Spain’s National Police, working with Europol and the Guardia Civil, said they have arrested three people for the deaths last November of five migrants who were threatened with a machete and forced to jump off the boat they were travelling in with dozens of other migrants.
According to a police statement, the five died on 29 November off the southern coast of Cádiz. The police said two men and a woman were arrested earlier this month but gave no further details.
The people smugglers had threatened the five with a machete and forced them to jump into the Atlantic Ocean despite the strong currents and cold temperatures.
Thirty-seven migrants had travelled in the boat from Kenitra, Morocco. The statement said the migrants had paid between €3,000 and €12,000 for a place in the boat.
Video images in November showed many of the other migrants being forced out of the vessel closer to land, before the smugglers sped off in the powerful boat. The police said they found the boat and some documents later, which helped in tracking down the three suspects. ALSO READ: Four migrants die after being pushed out of a boat just metres from beach in Andalusia.
Four of the bodies were recovered within hours and a fifth was found days later. The migrants were identified with the help of DNA samples from a family in Morocco.
Tens of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan countries try to reach Spain each year in large open boats launched from northwest Africa. Most go to the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, while others from Morocco, Algeria and Middle Eastern countries try to cross the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean to mainland Spain.
#OperacionesGC | Costa #Cádiz
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) March 18, 2024
🚔3 traficantes detenidos por la muerte por ahogamiento de 5 migrantes
▶️Les obligaron a saltar desde una embarcación de alta velocidad, amenazándoles con un machete a sabiendas de las fuertes corrientes y que muchos de ellos no sabían nadar… pic.twitter.com/nLKVyENnol
🚩3 #detenidos por la muerte de 5 migrantes
— Policía Nacional (@policia) March 18, 2024
👉Los arrestados obligaron a los #migrantes a saltar de una embarcación a sabiendas de que la zona tenía fuertes corrientes y que muchos no sabían nadar
👉A bordo viajaban 37 migrantes que habrían pagado entre 3.000€ y 12.000€ pic.twitter.com/Pl4fnGmRg3
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