The disappearance of 14 minors under guardianship in the Canary Islands uncovers an international trafficking network
The police investigation is ongoing and there are still people missing.
BarcelonaThe report of 14 missing children over seven months triggered an investigation that has uncovered an international child trafficking network operating from the Canary Islands to France. Between November 2014 and May of this year, 13 children disappeared from a center in Arrecife (Lanzarote) and another from a children's center in San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Gran Canaria). Spanish police have arrested eleven people, and four are already in pretrial detention for crimes including organized crime, document forgery, offenses against family rights and duties, obstruction of justice, and child pornography. The police force does not rule out further developments in the case. In fact, the investigation remains open to locate and protect the missing children and to establish the necessary international police cooperation channels to clarify the facts. So far, investigators have confirmed that the criminal group used routes and contacts in Morocco, Ivory Coast, and Spain to fraudulently transport children to France. The 14 disappearances that triggered the alarm led to an operation to locate the minors and clarify how they had disappeared from the centers where they were receiving protection.
In May of this year, police officers intercepted three minors at Lanzarote airport accompanied by an adult, originally from Mauritania, who was trying to board a plane with them bound for Madrid. Initial checks revealed that the minors were under the guardianship of a foster care center and that he had not authorized the trip. They also lacked valid documentation for the journey. The man was arrested, and the police also arrested one of the minors, who turned out to be an adult.
A "perfectly organized" network
The investigation revealed "a perfectly organized network with a clear division of roles," as described by the police, whose objective was to traffic minors from foster care centers to France. Those involved had a system in Morocco to facilitate transfers and cross borders, contacts in Ivory Coast who sent falsified documents, and infrastructure in Spain to temporarily house the minors and manage their passage to France. Police searched two homes in Lanzarote, where they seized a large quantity of documents, electronic devices, and cash. A total of eleven arrests were made: nine in Lanzarote, one in Madrid, and one in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.