The National Police have arrested nine men of Algerian origin for captaining three boats with 48 migrants on board, including minors and a baby. The boats were rescued near the coast of Almería between December 10 and 12 last year by Maritime Rescue and the Guardia Civil. The similarity of the trips – all originating in Algeria – and the arrival times on the coast of Almeria alarmed the authorities, who, after an investigation, identified the organizers. They recruited their clients through social networks and threatened them with knives so that they would jump into the sea in front of the police presence. Eight of those arrested are already in prison. According to the latest available data, the National Police arrested another 22 boat owners in Almería in the first nine months of 2023.
The first of the boats was located by Maritime Rescue on December 10 about 37 kilometers from the beaches of Almería. On board were 14 people of Algerian and Moroccan nationality who were being treated at the Temporary Care Center for Emigrants (CATE) in the capital Almería. A day later, another rubber boat was found carrying 17 more migrants of the same nationality – including three minors, one of them an infant – who were rescued by the Civil Guard. The same security forces rescued the 17 people who arrived near Carboneras on December 12 in another boat. All were also treated at the care center in the port of Almería.
The similarities noted between the three boats, which arrived one after the other – like dozens of others arriving on the growing Algeria route every year since 2019 – prompted the National Police to investigate the details of the trip and try to identify the organizers. Through police work it was possible to find out who they were and also that they had recruited the migrants in Algeria and Morocco through social networks, where so-called taxi boats have become popular. In addition, they noted that these were not their first trips to the Spanish coast and that the organization to which they belonged was responsible for all the logistics: preparing the boats, guiding the boats, refueling supplies and orientation along the route by Satellite navigation systems. “Using this method, human traffickers have reaped great economic benefits,” the National Police said in a statement. According to the police, such trips usually cost between 3,000 and 7,000 euros per person.
No security measures
The boats lacked safety measures – the migrants were not given life jackets for the journey – and were in very poor condition. In fact, the engine had very little power, which made the journey between the coasts of North Africa and those of Spain very complicated. The state police emphasized circumstances “that seriously endangered the lives of the crew on board.” At one point, the organizers also threatened the migrants with machetes, that they would jump into the sea in front of the police presence, and even demanded that they give them more money or valuable items to carry with them during the journey.
Finally, nine people of Algerian nationality were arrested by agents of the Unit Against Illegal Immigration Networks and Document Forgery (UCRIF) of the Almería Police Station. In this way, they managed to dismantle a criminal organization dedicated to the irregular smuggling of people from northern Morocco and Algeria to Spain. The case is in the hands of the Almería Instructional Court No. 5, which has ordered prison sentences for eight of the nine arrested.
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You are not the only ones with these facts. As of last October, the National Police of Almería arrested 22 people for steering boats to the shores of the Andalusian province, and all were sent to prison, Almería's chief commissioner, Gumersindo Vila, announced earlier this month. Given the increase in the migration route from Algeria to Almería in recent years, arrests are becoming more frequent. Due to the proximity – the distance between the two coasts is about 130 nautical miles, about 220 kilometers – the journey can be completed in about three hours if sea conditions are suitable. Police sources explain that it is common for the boats to land on one of the many beaches in the Cabo de Gata area, where the migrants disembark and the captains return to the Algerian country, sometimes even with a traveler. Sometimes there are problems, such as the waves that diverted a boat from its route last spring, leaving two Moroccan men dead and thrown overboard. Three crew members – men aged 19, 20 and 33 with Algerian nationality – were arrested for this.