In 2024, the National Police in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands made a total of 110 arrests of boat skippers for the crimes of facilitating illegal immigration, being responsible for introducing a total of 1865 immigrants to the Canary Islands.
The investigative activity of the National Police to combat irregular immigration by sea is carried out by the Provincial and Local Immigration and Borders Brigades of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in their exclusive competence to fight against irregular immigration networks.
As a result of the police operations, a total of 75 people were arrested in the Province of Las Palmas and 35 people in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife during 2024, for their relationship with the criminal organizations responsible for organizing these transfers by sea through one of the most dangerous routes in the world, the Atlantic.
The actions of those arrested included skippering and managing the trip on the boat (rafts, inflatable boats or canoes), taking responsibility for the payments associated with it, or being in charge of and participating in the transfers and accommodation of migrants until they boarded, being charged as responsible for facilitating illegal immigration, belonging to a criminal organization, and in some cases as perpetrators of crimes of reckless or intentional homicide.
Especially relevant were the arrests made of those responsible for different boats in which some of their occupants died, in most cases caused by the precarious conditions in which these transfers took place, some cases being the following;
On February 5, 2024, a canoe from Nouakchott (Mauritania) arrived on the coast of Gran Canaria, with a total of 104 people inside. The arrest of 6 people was achieved for crimes of facilitating illegal immigration and as responsible for the death of 2 of the occupants of the canoe.
Canoe rescued on February 5, 2024
On March 12, 2024, after 14 days of navigation, a canoe from Mauritania was rescued. The harsh conditions in which the crossing took place were remarkable, among others due to the lack of drinking water from the 6th day of navigation. Investigators from the Provincial Immigration and Borders Brigade of Las Palmas were able to verify at least the death of 19 people, two of them located inside the boat, the rest of the bodies having been thrown into the sea. 3 people were arrested as members of the criminal organization responsible for the canoe.
In May, there were also deaths in two of the canoes that came from Senegalese coasts, managing to identify and arrest the skippers and members of the criminal organization. In the boat rescued on May 13, with 172 occupants, the death of 3 people was confirmed. Two of the bodies, corresponding to two women, were thrown into the sea, giving the dramatic situation that one of them was traveling with her minor son who did manage to reach the Canary coasts alive.
For the previous events, 3 people were arrested. In the second boat, a corpse was located, and the skipper of the same was arrested.
On June 20, 2024, the rescue of a boat was carried out by a cruise ship approximately 361 nautical miles SW of the island of El Hierro, where they were able to rescue 71 people, recovered 3 corpses from the canoe and where, due to the malnutrition suffered, one of the rescued died on board the cruise ship.
In the month of August, the Provincial Immigration and Borders Brigade of the National Police proceeded to arrest 4 members of the canoe that left Dakar, transporting a total of 174 immigrants, and with the result of 3 people dead. A fifth person, corresponding to the main person in charge, managed to flee the Canary Islands, although, thanks to the coordination between the different units of the National Police, he was finally arrested in the town of Vigo.
The main objective pursued by the units of the National Police with competence in the persecution of illegal immigration networks, consists of the dismantling of the same, being necessary to articulate international judicial and police cooperation. In this regard, various international arrest warrants in Mauritania and Morocco currently in force should be highlighted, issued as a result of investigations carried out by the Provincial Immigration and Borders Brigade of Las Palmas.
Likewise, four members based in Spain who held a higher and managerial position in different criminal organizations have been arrested in 2024, as directly responsible for participating in the preparation of the departure of the boats and the development of logistical functions on the West African coast, such as accounting and collecting the money that immigrants had to pay to obtain a place, which could range between amounts close to 1000 euros and around 3000 euros depending on the place of departure of the boats and nationalities, as well as the 16000 euros that could be paid in the case of routes initiated from the Asian continent, which would include the initial air transfers.
