EIGHTEEN YEARS SOUGHT FOR PEOPLE SMUGGLERS

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The prosecution will seek a total of 18 years in prison for two Moroccans accused of manning a boat in which thirty people of the same nationality, including twelve children, travelled from Morocco to the Costa de Almería.

The boat was intercepted during the early morning of October 9, 2011 by a Maritime Rescue boat about five nautical miles southeast of Adra.

The prosecutor says that the people who were in the boat were trying to enter country illegally, after paying “different amounts of money” to unidentified persons, responsible for organizing the trip.

They also state that the defendants were responsible for manning the boat from the Moroccan coast to the Spanish coast, with the help of electronic devices and giving orders to other occupants on their status and performance during the journey.

The prosecutor accused the two defendants, identified by the initials SH and MH and both undocumented immigrants in Spain, of a crime against the rights of foreign citizens, which carries a sentence of nine years in prison.

The hearing will be held on December 5th at the Third Section of the Audiencia Provincial de Almería.