The Civil Guard has dismantled a criminal organization on the island of Gran Canaria that was dedicated to recruiting foreign minors from the African continent to transfer them to the peninsula and France and then subject them to sexual exploitation.
Within the framework of operation JABANY, the armed institute has been able to verify that this organization recruited foreign minors who are under the care of reception centers and has arrested five people.
Recruited with the promise of employment
The investigation began after becoming aware of the situation of a minor under guardianship who, after leaving a protection center in Gran Canaria, managed to return to Spain from France and recounted that she had been recruited through the promise of supposed work.
From that moment on, investigators detected the existence of other similar cases of minors who left the centers without their personal documentation and who, a few hours later, appeared linked to flights destined for different points on the Peninsula.
Modus operandi of the criminal organization
During the investigation, the Civil Guard verified that there was a common modus operandi by the organization. Specifically, it took advantage of the special vulnerability of the minors, many of them without family ties in Spain, with language barriers and with the intention of leaving the Canary Islands to work or reach other European countries.
Under this false appearance of help, they offered them a way out of the centers, identity or travel documents not matching their true identity were provided, and their travel by air and land was organized.
Investigators have confirmed the existence of a highly differentiated division of roles within the group. Some members were responsible for contacting the minors or facilitating contact from within the centers; others managed the documentation, the distribution of effects, or the purchase of tickets; and others accompanied the victims to the airport to ensure they accessed the boarding area and subsequent transfer to their final destinations.
One of the key elements of the investigation was the detection of several displacements of minors from Gran Canaria Airport using false identities. In some cases, the investigated individuals accompanied the minors to the security checkpoints and controlled access to the restricted area, which allowed the agents to confirm that the departures did not correspond to isolated escapes, but to an organized and repeated operation over time.
Two victims released
With the development of this operation, the Guardia Civil has managed to release two victims and prevent the escape of four other minors, preventing them from leaving the islands following the same procedure used in previous cases.
The exploitation phase of the operation was carried out on July 29 by the Organized Crime Team (ECO) based in the Canary Islands of the Central Operational Unit (UCO) and by the Organic Unit of Judicial Police of Las Palmas, both belonging to the Guardia Civil, carrying out a total of five searches and seizures at different points in Gran Canaria and proceeding to the arrest of five people, one of them a minor.
The searches carried out were positive for the investigation, with the seizure of abundant documentation of interest and effects related to the investigated events, as well as mobile terminals, electronic devices, and cash.
The investigation has been directed by the Instruction Section of the Court of Instance of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Plaza n° 3 and remains open, not ruling out future actions.
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