During the operation, seven people have been arrested and numerous documents that were provided by the organization to the migrants have been seized to regularize their situation in an illicit manner.
It is estimated that they would have organized more than 80 departures from the Canary Islands with profits of more than 100.000 euros.
Agents of the Civil Guard and the National Police, in a joint operation, have dismantled a criminal organization based in Gran Canaria and dedicated to providing migrants with false documentation to travel to the peninsula or other States of the European Union. Among the migrant users of this network, numerous minors were detected to whom the members of this organization provided falsified documentation where they appeared as adults, thus allowing them, and thanks to the logistics provided by this criminal network, to escape from the juvenile center where They were staying and signing up for a flight.
A total of seven people, mostly of North African origin, have been arrested (six in Gran Canaria and one in Ciudad Real) and are charged with the alleged crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, against the rights of foreign citizens and document falsification. . In addition, there is an eighth member of the organization, who is accused of the same acts and who is currently in prison serving a sentence for another reason.
In the operation, three homes have been searched, in which passports used fraudulently by the organization, files with documentation to regularize the situation of irregular immigrants, falsified official documentation and mobile phones, among other items, have been seized.
The organization recruited migrants of Maghreb origin, minors or adults, who had arrived to the islands by boat and detained them in different places, while they prepared the false documentation and all the necessary infrastructure for their departure. Once obtained, they were taken to the different Canarian ports and airports, providing them with the necessary instructions to avoid being detected. On some occasions, the organization's passers-by accompanied them during the air or sea journey, thus ensuring the return of the documentation.
The connections of this organization with criminal networks based in Morocco and other States of the European Union were constant, offering among their services boat freight from Morocco to the Canary Islands for migrants who were on the African continent. They also diversified their work, taking charge of carefully organizing fraudulent asylum requests, using a lawyer involved in criminal activities.
It is estimated that this organization organized more than 80 departures from the islands, and several of those who used its services with a false passport or in the name of third parties were arrested. The profits obtained exceed 100.000 euros.