The vast majority of the 13 underage wards who disappeared from the same reception center in Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote, were girls. This is confirmed by sources from the National Police's Immigration Unit to this publication. A total of 12 girls and one boy, wards of the Canary Islands Government who had arrived on the island by boat, disappeared from this center between May and November of this year. The investigation remains open to locate them.
Within the framework of this latest case affecting minors' centers, the National Police have arrested a total of eleven people, of whom nine have been arrested in Lanzarote.
This case is more alarming in the case of Lanzarote, as unlike Gran Canaria or Tenerife, the island only has about a hundred minors in foster care, in eight small or medium-sized facilities: six of insular ownership and two from the Government of the Canary Islands.
The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare of the Canary Islands Government, Francisco Candil Corpo (CC), stated in declarations to this media outlet that "many times it can be a disappearance and on other occasions simply that the boy continues his migratory itinerary" and that, on occasion, in the countries of origin "they have already paid or committed to moving him elsewhere." However, in this operation, agents have dismantled an international network dedicated to trafficking minors housed in Lanzarote and Gran Canaria and transferring them to France.
Among other points, the police are investigating crimes related to **membership in a criminal organization, document forgery, against family rights and duties, concealment, and child pornography**.
The company responsible for the center is not disclosed
The Minister of Social Welfare of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Marciano Acuña (CC), has assured that the island's main institution has collaborated with the National Police within the framework of this operation, baptized as Operation Triton, as the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, the kings of the sea, was known in Greek mythology. "We are the ones who alerted them and are, along with the entity, collaborating with the National Police to get to the bottom of it," he added.
Neither the Ministry of Social Welfare of the Canary Islands Government nor the corresponding department of the Cabildo of Lanzarote have wished to answer La Voz's questions about which specific center has registered the cases, who the responsible company is, and to which public institution they correspond for contracting.
In this regard, Francisco Candil added that, in any case, whether it is the responsibility of one institution or another. "They are minors under guardianship and are in the care of the autonomous community," meaning that ultimately they are the responsibility of the autonomous community"We are the first to be interested in everything being clarified and reaching the bottom of it," stated the insular counselor for Social Welfare, who insisted that knowing the name of the responsible company or institution "is of no interest to anyone."Meanwhile, the counselor has pointed out that the company managing this minors' center is not among the entities being investigated in the framework of other ongoing judicial cases that directly involve the reception centers in Lanzarote and the rest of the Canary Islands
Minors are not under 24-hour supervision
The counselor added that minors under the care of the Canary Islands Government are not under strict 24-hour control. "When they have been in the home for a while, they go out on their own, go to the movies, go to activities, they start to have an independent life. It's not that they have committed a crime, they are minors who are under a protection regime," he added.Meanwhile, regarding the need for self-criticism in light of the various legal cases opened in the Canary Islands affecting minors' centers, Acuña responded that they are in "permanent self-criticism" and that when they took control of the Cabildo, only the large La Santa reception center existed, and they preferred to opt for "a smaller, more appropriately sized model."However, he has acknowledged that these small models, as in the case of the Casa del Marino in Arrecife or the San Bartolomé center, have also caused problems.
From the Canary Islands Government, Francisco Candil has insisted that "there will always be unscrupulous people" and has ruled out self-criticism about how the management of minors' centers might be influencing safety issues for minors. "We are permanently training our staff for detection, trying to improve situations and protocols. The reality is that we live in a world where monsters exist. For the children in protection in the autonomous community and for those in normalized families," he insisted.
"There could be mafias behind this, unscrupulous people; I said yesterday that there have always been scoundrels and villains," Candil continued, pointing out that mafias take advantage of "especially vulnerable" people.
Thus, to conclude, the counselor assured that the minors, "driven by a dream of improving their economic circumstances and those of their families, are not aware that they are exposing themselves to these characters, these scoundrels, who are using them and engaging in trafficking situations." Ultimately, the Canary Islands Government, as those responsible for their guardianship and custody, is responsible for their well-being.