Spain Cracks Down on Criminal Organization That Facilitated Entry and Stay of Illegal Migrants

According to a press release from the Ministry of the Interior, the organization was based in the town of La Roda, in the province of Albacete, and those arrested are now charged with crimes of favouring irregular immigration, forgery of public documents and labour exploitation, amongst others, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

“The investigation began in August 2021 when the agents became aware of the existence of a criminal organization, based in the town of La Roda, which could be dedicated to favouring the entry and stay of irregular immigrants in national territory, the which were labour exploited,” the Ministry explains in its press release.

The organization mainly helped Moroccan nationals by registering them in homes they did not reside in, in order to later regularize their situation in Spain. Throughout the time these irregular migrants stayed in Spain, the organization found work for these migrants and provided them with false identities and the documents of other Moroccan residents who were legally living in Spain, mainly in agricultural work positions.

The irregular migrants had to pay between €150 and €200 per registration. Later, once they started working, the organization would deduct a part of their salary.

According to the Ministry of Interior, the network housed these migrants in several houses, charging them excessive amounts.

It also notes that amongst the people arrested, each held different roles within this network.

“The head of the dismantled organization was in charge of giving specific and precise instructions to the workers in an irregular situation, including that they memorize the identity of other people in a regular situation and thus make their identification difficult,” the Ministry notes.

It further explains that the now-dismantled organization was also working with a manager and an administrator of a temporary employment agency (ETT), who was in charge of fraudulently registering the irregular workers with the identity of regular workers.

During the investigation, the Spanish police also discovered that the organization also owned firearms and/or simulated weapons.

Through the operation, the police identified 11 such irregular workers, who were also forced to carry out renovation work in the detainees’ own homes.

Recently, the Spanish police have cracked down on several criminal groups facilitating irregular migration between Spain and Morocco. On June 14, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reported that the national police had dismantled a criminal group which smuggled over 800 migrants into Spain, carrying them on boats from the Moroccan coast to the coast of Cádiz.

Whereas at the beginning of June, the national police dismantled two interconnected criminal organizations that were involved in migrant smuggling activities between Morocco and the Canary Islands, and the same are responsible for the arrival of 204 Moroccan migrants to the coasts of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.