Spain to Extradite Moroccan Migrant Trafficking Suspect Wanted by Morocco

The extradition will be authorized on the basis of the agreement signed between the two countries in January 2009. The extradition hearing will be held next Tuesday at the National Court. Morocco, which has requested the extradition of this Moroccan residing abroad, claims that the offenses of belonging to a criminal organization and migrant trafficking were committed on its territory. The Spanish authorities had authorized his extradition on October 11, but Yassine Salhi opposed it, seizing the National Court, which is competent in the matter, recalls The Objective.

Salhi was arrested on August 17 near Almería. Accused of having led a criminal organization dedicated to the trafficking of sub-Saharan migrants, he was placed in pre-trial detention. According to the prosecution, he helped them leave Nador in Morocco to reach Europe on inflatable motorboats, for a fee of between 15,000 and 20,000 dirhams (around 1,800 euros) per person.

The prosecution argues that this network has been operating since 2009 and organized up to three migrant transfer operations per week. This act is punishable under Article 294 of the Moroccan Penal Code, which is why the Attorney General of the King before the Court of Appeal of Nador issued an arrest warrant against Salhi in June and the Moroccan embassy in Spain requested his extradition on September 19, a month after his arrest.

According to data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, 39,157 migrants arrived illegally in Spain in 2021. As of the end of August 2022, there were 16,718.