In Madrid, Spain, the Civil Guard has made 14 arrests in connection to a scheme aimed at profiting off the families of missing migrants from North Africa. The suspects allegedly promised to find, identify, and repatriate the bodies of missing migrants in exchange for money. This operation came to light on Wednesday.
According to the police, the network used social media to attract victims by posting messages about their services. Over the course of several years, they engaged with relatives in Morocco and Algeria who were searching for family members feared to have perished at sea while attempting to reach the Spanish coast on small boats.
The Civil Guard explained that the group offered to act as intermediaries with Spanish authorities in exchange for payment. They utilized connections with public officials in medical services to obtain photos of migrants’ bodies in certain cases.
Under false pretenses, families were asked to provide personal information about their missing loved ones for various purported services, including conducting searches, filing complaints, arranging DNA samples for identification, and providing translations, as per the Civil Guard.
Authorities identified a Moroccan man as the suspected ringleader, who leveraged his contacts in North Africa to convince families of the legitimacy of his assistance.
In coordinated raids on 13 residences, law enforcement seized nearly 70,000 euros ($77,000) in cash, vehicles, and documents in the southern Mediterranean provinces of Murcia and Almeria, as well as in Jaen inland.
The arrested individuals may face a range of charges, including disclosure of secrets, violation of respect for the deceased, fraud, forgery, bribery, and association with a criminal organization, among others.
Statistics from the interior ministry show that the number of migrants arriving in Spain by boat up to March of this year has increased dramatically to 13,485, more than four times the figure from the same period last year. In 2023, a total of 6,618 people lost their lives during perilous sea crossings in an attempt to reach Spain, according to the rights group Walking Borders.
(Converted at $1 = 0.9135 euros)
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Aislinn Laing and Lucy Marks)
