2023-07-04 20:41:36
In 2019, the National Police obtained information about a network dedicated to transferring Syrian citizens to northern Europe through Spain. The leaders lived in Algeria, but in March 2022 both the leader and his lieutenant and various members with responsibilities moved to live in Malaga and Almería. In both provinces they contracted a structure made up of Spaniards that provided support for the sea routes: they started off on the Almería coast to reach the Algerian coast, picked up the travelers and returned at full speed to the starting point. The move was an unexpected opportunity. It made it possible to start an operation that ended just a year later with the arrest of 15 people —13 of them are already in prison— and the dismantling of the gang, whose leaders sometimes even took travelers to Germany or Norway by car after disembark on the Andalusian coast.
The operation, called Orontes and carried out between March 2022 and March 2023, has served to dismantle a new type of organization of which Frontex and the intelligence of several European countries had indications for four years, according to sources of the investigation. Beyond the rarity of having its headquarters in Spain, they had set up a complex gear to attract people with offices in countries such as Sudan and Liberia. They also had fast, expensive boats, with 300-horsepower engines, which took less than three hours to make the journey between the coasts of Algeria and Almería, separated by about 130 nautical miles, about 220 kilometers. The pilots, in addition, were armed and did not hesitate to display their weapons in case of any problem. As soon as they arrived on the Spanish coast, they had a device set up to transfer the migrants to flats and then take them to their final destination in northern Europe. Sometimes, a pirate taxi would pick them up directly in a hidden cove in the Cabo de Gata Natural Park, according to a police officer.
It was a practically invisible trip for the Spanish and international security forces. “The idea is that we never get to see them,” say police sources. “They had everything very well controlled. They had even calculated how long it takes for a Civil Guard patrol boat to go to meet them since they were detected,” add the same sources, who emphasize that when the agents arrived at the point, there were no migrants, traffickers, or boats. One of the great challenges for the Spanish security forces is that a large and difficult to calculate number of undetectable people enter through the Algerian route.
The investigation has revealed that the boats were in the name of Spanish citizens. They were part of a structure with family roots in fishing that they had hired to hide the boats in video-surveilled ships, maintain them, repair them, supply them with gasoline and move them to the coves where the trips began. Once the beach was secured —blocking the access road— the organization arrived in luxury vehicles to drop off the pilot whose turn it was, always a Syrian national. It set off at full speed, reached the Algerian coast, picked up between 20 and 30 people and returned to Almería, reversing the traditional route, which usually departs from the North African country. Then the boat was hidden again on Almería soil or, depending on the day, it resumed its journey: days have been detected in which the connection between Almería and Algeria was made up to three times and with clients in both directions.
The evidence collected by the National Police indicates that between September 2022 and March 2023 the organization made thirteen trips in which 200 people traveled, mostly Syrians, but also some Algerians. At the time of the arrests—on March 7 and 8—there were another hundred people waiting to be embarked in Algeria and another half thousand en route or waiting in Libya. There are no exact estimates on how many people they have been able to move during the time the organization has operated. Each ticket had a price that was around between 7,000 and 20,000 euros. Those who paid more obtained a kind of VIP service that included disembarkation in calmer coastal areas, pick-up in a high-end vehicle and strong security measures. “That supposes a great danger, because they could put anyone there,” stresses one of the agents who has participated in the operation.
The recruitment of Syrian citizens – the vast majority of the clients of this organization – was carried out from Libya. From that country they even managed the documentation to arrive by air, generally through airports in Sudan and Liberia to finally end up in Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya, a central country on the migratory route to Europe. After staying in security apartments controlled by the organization, the migrants were transferred to Algeria, where they again spent time hidden in houses until the time came for the trip to the coast of Almeria. The favorite landing points correspond to the surroundings of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park, which offers places that are difficult to access. The large area of this protected area and the scarcity of roads also complicates permanent surveillance and a rapid response from the security forces, according to police sources.
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The police operation has been led by the Central Unit of Illegal Immigration Networks and Falsehoods (UCRIF) in collaboration with the units of Almería, Málaga and Alicante. It has also been developed in coordination with Europol and the participation of the German and Norwegian authorities. The work has culminated in the arrest of 15 people -nine Spaniards, five Syrians and one Algerian- who was already in prison after being arrested by the Civil Guard months before and who had reached an agreement from there so that their route would be operated by the organization now dismantled. Nine of them lived in the capital Almería, five in Roquetas de Mar (also in the province of Almería) and one more, in Málaga.
In the 13 searches carried out in both Andalusian provinces, the agents have seized 522,000 euros and 1,200 euros in cash, in addition to two high-speed boats, a pistol, motors, gasoline and seven vehicles, in addition to 42 telephones -two of them satellites— and computer equipment, as well as various documentation. Those arrested are considered alleged perpetrators of the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, favoring irregular immigration and drug trafficking, since some took advantage of the constant trips to transport narcotic substances. After going to court, 13 of them are already in prison.
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