MADRID: Spanish police said Monday they have smashed an alleged people trafficking network which “operated like a travel agency” and smuggled around 600 Moroccans into Spain by sea this year.
The ring recruited its “customers” mainly in the northern Moroccan city of Larache, charging “at least” 2,500 euros ($2,825) per person for the dangerous crossing, police said in a statement.
“The organization operated like a sort of travel agency” which took the migrants to Spain, picked them up from the coast and then transported them by car to “safe houses.”
From there, they took them to their desired destination in the country, usually in Catalonia or the northern Basque Country, the statement added.
Police arrested seven suspected leaders of the ring, including its Moroccan-based chief, who was charged with recruiting migrants as part of the operation.
The network smuggled around 600 migrants into Spain this year, earning at least 1.5 million euros, the statement added.
Spain has seen growing numbers of migrants after Italy began to stem the flow of sea arrivals from Libya last year.
The International Organization for Migration says that more than 55,000 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea this year, and that at least 743 have died or gone missing trying, making it the main entry point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe.
Spain police break up Moroccan migrant smuggling ring
Spain police break up Moroccan migrant smuggling ring
- The ring recruited its “customers” mainly in the northern Moroccan city of Larache, charging “at least” 2,500 euros ($2,825) per person
Afghan Taliban says Pakistan bombs Kabul in fresh escalation
KABUL: The Afghan government said on Friday that Pakistan had carried out fresh strikes on Kabul and several other provinces.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X that Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Paktika, and some other areas, were targeted.
Pakistan has killed at least 641 Afghan Taliban operatives and injured more than 855 in the ongoing conflict between the two sides since last month, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday.
Islamabad has said its airstrikes, which have at times directly targeted the Afghan Taliban government, are aimed at ending Kabul’s support for militants carrying out attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban has denied aiding militant groups.
Fresh clashes between the two neighbors began on Feb. 26 after Afghanistan’s border forces launched attacks against Pakistani military installations. Kabul said the attack was in retaliation for Islamabad’s airstrikes earlier in February. Both forces have since then engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained strained since the Afghan Taliban seized power in August 2021. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks across the country in recent months that it blames on militants it alleges are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and insists that its soil is not used by militant groups for attacks against other countries.
While Afghanistan has voiced the desire for dialogue, Pakistan has repeatedly ruled out talks, saying it will continue targeting militant hideouts through “Operation Ghazab lil Haq” until Kabul desists from supporting militants.
