The skippers of a small boat that was intercepted in Lanzarote with 16 immigrants in April 2018, and who were tried on Tuesday by the First Section of the Provincial Court in Gran Canaria, acknowledged the facts and accepted a sentence of two and a half years in prison. The defendants reached an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office, which initially requested a sentence of eight years in prison for each of them.
Thus, it is considered proven that M.D. and N.E.B. colluded "with other unidentified persons" and "motivated by the desire for profit, charged various amounts of money to 16 immigrants to take them with them to the Canary coasts, knowing that they were violating the rules on entry into the national territory and that once they arrived, they would be in an irregular situation in Spain."
The small boat left the coast of Asfi (Morocco) and was intercepted by Maritime Rescue at approximately 2:00 p.m. on April 1, 2018, about 70 miles north of Lanzarote, with all the immigrants inside, "thus achieving the desired purpose."
The defendants were skippering the aforementioned boat from its departure, in Asfir (Morocco), until its arrival on the coast of the island of Lanzarote, "using a GPS device to help them." Although, "both were also immigrants who intended to reach Spanish territory to achieve a better life." The boat "lacked any security system, as well as life jackets, thereby endangering the lives of the immigrants."
According to the sentence, for the fulfillment of the custodial sentence, they will be credited with all the time they have been deprived of liberty for this reason. The two defendants have been in pre-trial detention since April 19, 2018.
