Spanish police have dismantled the Chinese mafia that smuggled more than 250 migrants from Cadiz to Britain
Spanish police on Monday dismantled a Chinese mafia responsible for smuggling migrants from Cadiz to Britain. This mafia allegedly locked people in a small house for weeks until they were transferred.
Fourteen people have reportedly been arrested for illegally trafficking more than 250 migrants, forging documents and smuggling drugs.
This is reported by a Spanish news channel El Mundothe criminal organization facilitated the illegal entry into Spain of Chinese nationals, both by air and by land, with forged documents.
Police began an investigation when they noticed a steady flow of Chinese migrants being detected in La Linea de la Concepcion, a municipality of Cadiz, Spain.
The migrants were reportedly heading to Gibraltar with the intention of reaching Britain.
A video released by Spanish police shows small, cramped, dark rooms in a house in Cadiz where the people smuggling gang is believed to have housed migrants
Several suitcases and personal belongings can be seen in the video, indicating that several people lived in the home
When they passed through Cadiz in southern Spain, there were migrants ‘Hidden in small spaces, like a dungeon, for weeks’ before being transferred to Britain in ‘terribly unsanitary conditions’.
They were also forbidden to leave the crowded building where they were housed.
A video released by Spanish police during a raid on the property where the migrants were staying shows a small, dark, cramped room with only a bed. When they are lifted up by one of the officers, they find numerous pieces of trash and hair clippings underneath.
More bedrooms are discovered, with the video showing multiple suitcases and personal belongings, indicating multiple people may have been staying there.
Those involved in the illegal smuggling, who are also reportedly Chinese nationals, are said to have forged documents, including passports, visas and stamps from Schengen countries.
Police discover pieces of trash and hair clippings under a bed, showing migrants exposed to unsanitary living conditions
According to Spanish police, the Chinese people smuggling gang has forged documents to facilitate the smuggling of migrants to Europe
The organized crime network was also found to be selling and distributing synthetic drugs such as ketamine and MDMA, with the mafia operations netting a total of around €1 million.
This is not the first time Spanish police have arrested Chinese-led human trafficking gangs.
In 2018, police in Spain arrested 155 people and destroyed an international Chinese human trafficking ring smuggling people to Britain and Ireland.
Officers said gang leaders charged migrants a flat fee of 20,000 euros per person for taking them to their final destination on fake passports.
After reaching Europe, they were put up in flats near Barcelona before being put on flights mainly departing from the city’s El Prat airport.