ACN
In January, a total of 623 irregular immigrants arrived on the coasts of the Canary Islands, a figure that almost doubles the number of detainees in Lanzarote during the twelve months of last year and exceeds the 492 undocumented individuals intercepted in January 2005.
By islands, there is also a change in the behavior of the mafias. Thus, despite the fact that Gran Canaria remains the main destination for irregular immigrants from the African continent with a total of 231 undocumented individuals detained in the last month, the second destination chosen by the mafias in January was Tenerife, which registered the arrival of 5 boats and the detention of 172 immigrants, followed by Fuerteventura with 4 boats and 142 people detained, Lanzarote with 2 boats and 29 immigrants, and finally, La Gomera, with 49 immigrants.
To these figures, it should be added that 50 percent of the boats (10) managed to reach land last month, evading the controls of the State Security Forces and Corps. Only in Fuerteventura, the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard and/or Maritime Rescue managed to detect and intercept 100% of the boats that arrived in January to the Island and, therefore, all its occupants.
In addition, in the islands where the Comprehensive External Surveillance System, SIVE, has not yet been implemented (all except Fuerteventura), the boats were located either on land already stranded or at sea thanks, among other aspects, to the 6 warnings that the crews of different fishing vessels made to the Emergency Coordination Center, CECOES, 112.
Only on one occasion did the mobile radar located in Gran Canaria manage to locate one of the boats when it was heading to the coasts of the Gran Canaria municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
