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MOROCCO-EUROPE-MIGRANTS-ARREST
Morocco arrests Spaniard for alleged people smuggling
RABAT, Sept 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The Moroccan police announced the arrest
late Tuesday of a Spanish citizen and his Moroccan “accomplice” accused of
smuggling migrants to Europe by boat.
The suspects allegedly “extorted” people looking to leave the North African
country before “illegally” sending them across the Mediterranean Sea in
inflatable vessels, the General Directorate of National Security said.
The arrests in the northern city of Tangier came shortly after Morocco’s
navy opened fire on a speedboat carrying migrants that was being driven by
another Spaniard, killing one person and wounding three onboard.
The patrol was “forced” to open fire on the boat after it “refused to obey”
orders in waters off the Moroccan locality of M’diq-Fnideq, the authorities
said in a statement.
The Spanish captain was arrested unharmed, a local official told AFP.
Morocco — a key route for sub-Saharan Africans trying to reach Europe via
Spain — said this month it has foiled 54,000 bids so far in 2018 by illegal
migrants to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
The figures included 7,100 Moroccans for the period until the end of
August, according to the Moroccan government.
Since early 2018, Spain has recorded more than 38,000 arrivals by sea and
land, according to the International Organization for Migration.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1803 hrs