Spanish Police Arrest 2 Algerians for illegal migrants’ trafficking

The Spanish national police announced on Monday the arrest of two Algerian nationals in Mallorca (Balearic Islands), accused of transporting illegal migrants to the Spanish coast. The arrested persons, aged 19 and 27, are suspected of having transported, last Wednesday (October 5), 15 people, including minors, from the Algerian coasts to Spain in inhuman conditions, and of belonging to a criminal network, said the Spanish police in a statement.

The boat used by the members of this criminal network had only one engine and no life jacket. The boat stopped several times due to engine failure at sea (…) when the boat was adrift, said the statement. The Spanish authorities of the regions of Murcia, Almeria and the Balearic Islands have reinforced, in recent weeks, security measures along the coast to cope with the arrival of boats from Algeria and fight human traffickers.

According to Spanish local authorities, 73% of irregular migrants arriving on the Spanish coast are Algerians, a phenomenon that is increasingly worrying Spanish political and associative circles. Both local authorities and several political parties have expressed their concern about this growing migratory wave