Spanish police arrest five people part of gang smuggling migrants

Spanish police have arrested five members of a migrant smuggling gang who looked to transport people over to Ireland.

Immigration and illegal immigrants have become a topic of discussion, not just in Spain, but all over Europe as people continue to try and escape their home countries in search of a better life and a sort of restart over in Europe.

The Canary Islands have been hit very hard in recent weeks with people coming over and landing on their shores in wooden boats or inflatable rafts that are far from safe, as earlier this month 280 coming over.

It’s believed that the better weather on land and at sea has allowed for further crossing attempts to be made, and this has led to widespread frustrations as many government officials and leaders call for tougher restrictions.

Police bust migrant smuggling gang in Barcelona

There are now multiple ways that people look to get money off desperate migrants and transport them all over the world and promise them a new life when they land in their final destination with people now overfilling cars and boats as they attempt to evade authorities.

However, this gang certainly opted for a lesser tried and tested way of staying uncaptured by dressing up and disguised as airport workers, with the Spanish police claiming they had arrested four people who were dressed as restaurant employees and another was a janitor at Barcelona Airport.

The plan was clearly thought out and the gang would’ve been hopeful of not being caught as they looked to hand migrants a fast-track through things such as security checks and border control by issuing fake security passes and outfits.

Spanish police have labelled this plan as ‘novel’ but do acknowledge the fact that it was a cunning plan which could have seen a large number of migrants getting into a country illegally, with Ireland said to be one of the destinations many were destined for.

Spanish police believe the gang have a much larger operation

A spokesperson for the  National Police in Barcelona confirmed the arrests and how they managed to rip up the gang’s plans, they said: “These people knew they couldn’t get the documents they needed to legally enter Spain, like valid visas.

“The detainees offered the migrants airport employee cards they could use to pretend they were workers and leave the international transit area without going through any border checkpoints.

“The gang’s help was fundamental, given that the alleged members even accompanied them along corridors that were restricted only to airport workers. They also offered them uniforms and other clothes they put on in places like toilets to pass themselves off as airport employees.”

It was a very important bust from the police because if pulled off, then it could have led to a far greater operation and more attempts such as this one to get people from countries outside of Europe and into others illegally.