LYON: More than 260 people were arrested and 41 migr ant-smuggling networks between Africa and Europe were identified during an operation involving police forces from multiple countries, Interpol said on Tuesday.
The four-day operation, dubbed Communis Maris (‘Common Sea’ in Latin), was conducted from Oct 5 to 8 and led to the arrest of 221 suspected migrant smugglers and 16 alleged human traffickers, the Lyon-based international police organisation said in a statement.
The crackdown, involving police forces from 16 countries across west and north Africa, Europe and the Middle East, uncovered 41 criminal organisations and triggered more than 430 investigations, Interpol said.
Twenty-five people were also arrested on accusations of other offences, including forging and using fraudulent documents. The operation was coordinated from Athens and funded by the European Union.
Thousands of people have died or gone missing at sea in recent years while trying to reach Europe, crossing either the Mediterranean or Africa’s Atlantic coast in a bid to flee conflict, authoritarian rule and economic hardship in their home countries.
‘Smugglers exploit vulnerable populations, often subjecting them to abuse, extortion and trafficking, as well as risking migrants’ lives on overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels,’ said David Caunter, Director of Organised and Emerging Crime at Interpol. Several boats putting lives at risk were intercepted at sea.
Those included a vessel off the coast of Morocco that had been at sea for six days carrying 70 people, including 30 minors, and a wooden pirogue that had departed from Senegal and was intercepted off Mauritania with 80 passengers on board.-AFP