The Civil Guard intercepts a ship in Cartagena allegedly dedicated to the illegal transport of migrants


The Civil Guard intercepts a ship in Cartagena allegedly dedicated to the illegal transport of migrants

Eight crew members of Syrian nationality have been released, after two of them left the ship on suspecting that the promise to disembark on European territory would not be fulfilled.

The captain, who has been arrested as the alleged perpetrator of the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, against the rights of foreign citizens and of documentary falsification, has been placed in preventive detention

It has had the support of the Corporation of Pilots of the Port of Cartagena








The Civil Guard, within the framework of the 'Ottoman' operation, has intercepted a merchant ship in the waters of Cartagena (Murcia), where the captain of the ship has been arrested as the alleged perpetrator of the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, against the rights of foreign citizens and falsification of documents, he has been placed in preventive detention.

In the operation, eight people of Syrian nationality, allegedly victims of a criminal organization dedicated to the illegal trafficking of human beings, have been released.

The investigation began thanks to the collaboration and cooperation between European agencies, when the Civil Guard was alerted to the transit of a ship allegedly used by a transnational criminal organization to smuggle people, hidden under the guise of a merchant transporter of won.
The investigation was precipitated by the interception of two people in the municipality of Mazarrón who, apparently, came from the aforementioned ship and who had taken advantage of the proximity to the coast to abandon it.
For this reason, the Civil Guard proceeded to board the ship to inspect the ship, since at that time, it was in front of the port city of Cartagena.

Counterfeit maritime documentation

After identifying the captain, the agents examined the maritime documentation and verified that the one corresponding to eight people had been falsified to justify their presence on the ship as members of the crew, before an eventual inspection.
Likewise, it was found that these people were Syrian citizens who lacked training or qualification for maritime tasks, although during the journey, they had apparently been forced to work on the ship under exploitative labor conditions.
After several months on board and, fearing that the promise to arrive on European territory would not be fulfilled and that, finally, they would be disembarked in an Arab country that could mean their return to their countries of origin, they forged a plan to abandon the boat.

Modus operandi

From the analysis of the information obtained, it has been possible to determine that the modus operandi began with the recruitment of citizens of Syrian origin and people from other conflict areas, who were offered their transfer to Europe for about 13,000 euros.
To do this, they would have acquired a cattle ship, with the flag of a third country, giving fictitious marine tasks to the migrants, thus exceeding the number of personnel necessary for this type of maritime transport.
Collaboration between European agencies has revealed that the aforementioned ship would have changed its name up to three times, to make it difficult to track and monitor by the different police forces.
The operation has been carried out by units of the Provincial Maritime Service, the Information Group, the Office of Analysis and Investigation (ODAIFI) of the Fiscal Service and Citizen Security of the Civil Guard, with the support of the Corporation of Practices of Port of Cartagena.
The detainee and the proceedings conducted were placed at the disposal of the Cartagena Investigating Court, whose owner ordered the detainee's imprisonment, as well as the seizure of the ship.

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