Spanish Police Bust Major Migrant Smuggling Rings Operating from Morocco to France

The investigators started from an arrest in Navarre where a smuggler was checked several times with illegal immigrants. This is how the investigations led to the arrest of 15 people and the seizure of 24 mobile phones and the sum of 3,000 euros, on Friday, August 21, 2020.

According to the Spanish police, "the channels start from Morocco to end up in Bayonne. Some migrants were solicited in Morocco, others on their arrival on the Spanish coasts". They each pay 200 euros with the promise of being taken to France. The two networks have organized trips passing through Madrid, Bilbao, Vitoria, Donosti and Irun.

These smuggling networks are not lacking in tricks. From Irun, one of the networks "has migrants board regular bus lines", the other prefers to transport them "by car to a refugee reception center in Bayonne". It is at this meeting point that they receive tickets to continue their journey in Europe thanks to a mobile application, specifies the same source.