The Civil Guard dismantles an organization formed by citizens of Moroccan nationality dedicated to offering immigrants in an irregular situation who had arrived in the Archipelago in a small boat its services so that they could move to the Peninsula from the Canary Islands. It is estimated that they have been able to help twenty people in one year of activity. Four members of the criminal organization, based on the island of Tenerife, were arrested during the police operation, and he is charged with the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, against the rights of foreign citizens, false documents and trafficking in human beings.
The detainees were in charge of the purchase of tickets to fly to the Peninsulawhich would be accompanied by a falsified documentation that would allow immigrants to fly with the appearance of legality.
The criminal gang accessed the reception centers to offer their services to newcomers
“After carrying out the first investigations, it was learned that this criminal organization accessed the reception centers where newly arrived immigrants were located to offer them their services. Once they had eestablished the appropriate contacts, they were offered the possibility of flying to the peninsula using falsified documentation or that it belonged to another person, ”according to the Civil Guard.
depending on whether it was carried out forgery or usurpationthe prices varied although they were always in the range of between 1,000 and 2,000 euros per person, according to the information collected by the investigators of the plot.
At the same time they provided accommodation services in occupied homes located in the town of El Fraile, in the Tenerife municipality of Aronawhile the documentation and flights were being prepared, as well as pick-up and transfer to the airport, to verify that the process was completed successfully.
In the course of this investigation, the existence of substantiated evidence of the commission of a crime of trafficking in human beings was also detected, consisting of the introduction in Tenerife of a Moroccan citizen who, through the false promise of an employment contract, was transferred from their country of origin (via Turkey) to this Island.
It is estimated that the criminal organization could have been operating since the beginning of 2021, assessing that since the beginning of the investigation they could have managed to get some 20 immigrants out of the Canary Islands.
As a result of the exploitation of the Operation, four components of the criminal group were arrested, carrying out an entry and search of the homes of two of those investigated and intervening various documentation, identity documents, money and abundant computer equipment and mobile devices for analysis. And I study.
They were housed in houses, prepared their documentation and transferred to the airport
The detainees are accused of the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, against the rights of foreign citizens (favoring irregular immigration), document fraud and trafficking in human beings.
The operation has been carried out by the Information Group of the Civil Guard Command of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in coordination with the Special Central Unit number III of the Civil Guard Information Headquarters, as well as other various Units resident in Tenerife due to to the entity of the operation, such as the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police, the Citizen Security Unit and the Rural Patrol of the Playa de las Américas Company, all under the direction of the Investigating Court no. 3 of Arona and Delegate Prosecutor’s Office for Immigration of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
