Spain Deploys Elite Police Unit to Ceuta to Combat Jet Ski Drug and Migrant Smuggling

This deployment was carried out "given the increasingly frequent use in recent days of this type of craft to transport migrants to the Ceuta coast," the government delegation said in a statement cited by Europa Press. Jet skis transporting migrants are flowing from Morocco towards the breakwaters of Tarajal and Benzú, in the south and north bays of Ceuta.

Faced with the observed increase in the use of these fast craft, the police have decided to strengthen the security personnel of the port of the autonomous city, although the updated data from the Ministry of the Interior indicates that no irregular entry of migrants by sea has been noted in Ceuta during the first half of July.

Between January 1 and July 15, 2023, only 33 people managed to enter Ceuta illegally by sea, 10.8% less than in the same period of the previous year. By land, 474 migrants entered the autonomous city irregularly, 14% less than the 551 recorded during the same period of 2022.