Spain Deports Five Moroccan Nationals Linked to Violent Crimes in Bilbao

In early March, three people of Moroccan origin, listed by the police for crimes of theft with threat and violence in stores, were arrested and transferred to the Foreigners Detention Center (CIE) in Murcia, before being expelled to Morocco on March 9.

Two other Moroccans with a long criminal record for violent thefts and assaults in Spain and Greece have also been arrested and transferred to the same CIE in Murcia, pending their expulsion to their country of origin.

The expulsion procedure for these five Moroccans is being carried out by the national police and the municipal police of Bilbao, according to the government delegation in the Basque Country in a press release cited by El Correo.

The operation aims to curb the increase in "crimes against property and persons recorded over the past year," the note explains, noting that the crime rate and knife attacks have increased in Bilbao in recent months.