Moroccan police arrest three people who wanted to take migrants by sea to Spain

Moroccan judicial police officers arrested three members of an irregular migration network in Agadir, in southern Morocco, on Thursday when they were preparing to transport ten migrants by sea to Spain.

According to the Moroccan police on Friday, those arrested, aged between 18 and 58, including a woman, were arrested in a police operation between the city of Agadir and the rural commune of Assafa in the province of Chtouka Ait Baha.

The source indicated that these persons were arrested at the time they were organising the sea voyage of ten migrants, including four minors.

According to the same source, those arrested were handed over to the police and the migrants were placed under judicial investigation, under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor's office, to uncover the circumstances of this case.

Last July, the Moroccan Ministry of Interior reported that the Moroccan authorities rescued 2,000 migrants from the waters of southern Morocco and Western Sahara in the last two months from boats heading for the Spanish Canary Islands, adding that 85 % of them are from sub-Saharan countries.