Moroccans Paid Up to €11,000 Each to Reach Melilla by Boat
Six Moroccans each paid up to €11,000 to reach Melilla clandestinely aboard a pleasure boat. Spanish police announced on Monday, October 19, that they had dismantled a smuggling network and arrested four suspects after several months of investigation.
Up to €11,000 to cross the sea between Morocco and Melilla. That is the amount disclosed by six Moroccan nationals intercepted in mid-March at the port of the Spanish city. They were travelling aboard a pleasure boat belonging to a Spaniard, reports El Faro de Melilla, citing the National Police.
Investigators from the Unit for Combating Illegal Immigration Networks and False Documents (UCRIF) were already monitoring the vessel, which was moored at Melilla’s marina. They had received information alerting them to its possible use to transport migrants from the Moroccan coast. When it arrived, police found the six passengers in an irregular situation, arrested the captain and seized the boat.
Six Moroccans’ testimony brings down smuggling network
Questioned by investigators, the passengers disclosed the amounts they had paid for the crossing. Their statements enabled investigators to trace the operation to an organisation operating between Morocco and Melilla, with several accomplices based in the Spanish city.
The investigation continued for several months and led to the arrest of three more suspects. Police now consider the network’s local branch dismantled. The identities and nationalities of the four people arrested have not been disclosed.
The case has been referred to the Melilla court. Spanish authorities have not specified the dates of the three latest arrests or the total number of crossings organised by the network.
The amounts cited are higher than those reported in previous cases. In February 2022, another smuggling network between Morocco and Melilla charged migrants from €500 to more than €4,000 to reach the city by boat.
