Skipper Of Migrant Boat Arrested In Ibiza

SKIPPER of migrant boat arrested in Ibiza for people trafficking.

The National Police in Ibiza have arrested a 36-year-old Algerian national for the alleged crime of people trafficking, after he was found to have transferred 11 people, all Algerians, to the port of es Codolar in his boat on Thursday, March 25.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the boat left Algeria at dawn on Tuesday, March 23 and set sail for Spain. The initial plan of the skipper was to disembark in the Alicante town of Benidorm, but because of technical problems, he was forced to change his course and head instead for the island of Ibiza.

The boat and its occupants were picked up by police as soon as it docked and the skipper was arrested for trafficking. All 11 passengers were men and of legal age.

The previous day, 14 men were arrested for trafficking 249 people, 55 of them minors, between December 27, 2020 and March 25, 2021, to the coasts of Arguineguin (Gran Canaria), Orzola and Arrecife (Lanzarote). The detainees were accused of handling boats without any safety measures, life vests, food or drink for the duration of the trips.

The 14 detainees were charged with crimes against the rights of foreign citizens, with six of them also being charged with the crime of reckless homicide, and in the case of three of them, the charge of belonging to a criminal organisation.

According to the Interior Ministry, 37,213 illegal immigrants entered Spain between January 1 and December 3, 2020. In January 2021 alone, a total of 3,214 migrants entered Spanish territory via land or sea, a staggering 55 per cent increase on the same month the previous year.

Source: Informacion