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VIDEO: Spain arrests 77 in crackdown of global migrant smuggling ring

Spanish police said on Thursday they had dismantled a global people-smuggling network that brought Indian, Pakistani and Bolivian migrants to Europe and North America.

Published: 9 August 2024 10:53 CEST
VIDEO: Spain arrests 77 in crackdown of global migrant smuggling ring
Spain is one of the main gateways for illegal immigration to Europe. Screenshot: Policía Nacional

A total of 77 nationals of Spain, Italy, Libya, Bolivia and Mexico, including 6 alleged leaders, were arrested in multiple Spanish cities, ending a two-year probe.

The criminal network used elaborate routes to bring Pakistani and Indian migrants to the United States and Canada, and Bolivians to Spain, for fees ranging from €8,000 to €10,000 ($8,700-10,900).

More than 200 police officers worked on the joint operation between Spain, Europol and the US’ Homeland Security Investigations, Spanish police said in a statement.

The migrants flew from Pakistan and India to Bahrain, then to Egypt, and finally to Libya. From there, they embarked on small boats without food or water — and arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa 30 hours later.

They stayed in Turin in northern Italy, before flying to Zaragoza or Barcelona in Spain.

Ring members then gave the migrants travel documents for Mexico, where cross-border networks brought them into the US.

The Bolivians transited through Egypt or Libya before reaching Spain.

Investigators searched 10 houses and travel agencies and found €500,000 ($545,000) in cash.

Spain is one of the main gateways for illegal immigration to Europe. Last year, 56,852 undocumented people entered the country, up 82 percent on 2022.

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SPANISH HISTORY

Spanish court shelves landmark Franco-era torture case

A court in Spain has shelved the first case and only probe into alleged torture under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, according to a ruling made public Tuesday.

Published: 10 September 2024 13:58 CEST
Spanish court shelves landmark Franco-era torture case

Julio Pacheco Yepes, 68, was questioned by a judge in September 2023 — the first time someone who says they were detained and tortured during the Franco era testified at a Spanish court.

He was 19 when he was arrested in Madrid in August 1975 for belonging to a left-wing underground movement that opposed the regime.

His detention happened just three months before the death of Franco, who ruled with an iron fist since the end of Spain’s 1936-39 civil war.

The former printer said he was tortured for several days at the Madrid police headquarters before being jailed for “terrorism”.

Pacheco Yepes filed a lawsuit against his four alleged torturers in February 2023. A Madrid court in May admitted it, saying there was possible evidence of “crimes against humanity and torture”.

But it closed the case on July 31 on the ground that the time limit for filing criminal charges had passed and because the alleged crimes fell under an amnesty law passed in 1977 during the transition to democracy.

“It’s devastating,” Pacheco Yepes told AFP, adding he felt “anger”.

“‘There has been a lot of movement, we have gone to testify. So there was a certain expectation that we could get somewhere,” he added.

Pacheco Yepes said he had appealed the decision and was prepared to “keep fighting it” all the way to the Constitutional Court and European courts.

Amnesty International vowed in a statement to “continue to fight to break down the wall of impunity, to ensure that the crimes against humanity committed during Francoism are investigated and brought to justice.”

The United Nations has urged Spain to revoke the amnesty law, which prevents the prosecution not only of offences committed by political opponents of the regime, but also those carried out by “civil servants and public order agents” such as police.

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