Trafficking gang in court

The Provincial Court of Las Palmas will begin to hear evidence from today, Tuesday, against five people accused of trafficking people who arrived in Lanzarote by boat and who were offered the possibility of leaving the Canary Islands and continuing their migratory journey in exchange for money. The alleged events would have occurred between September 2019 and November 2020.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the five defendants are part of “a criminal organisation” that was dedicated to “illegal human trafficking”. They are accused of “collecting, housing, maintaining and providing” the necessary documents to migrants who arrived in Lanzarote by boat so that they could continue their journey to the Iberian Peninsula or other countries in exchange for various amounts of money.

The indictment is directed at three Moroccan citizens and two Spaniards. It names the accused ZK, a native of the Alawite country but settled in Spain, as the head of the alleged plot, and HJ, also the head of the group. The accused YGG and YBG, who were in charge of housing migrants in their homes or in ZK’s, are also the assistants in these tasks, as well as MK, who was allegedly responsible for transfers to the airport.

Their arrests were carried out following a joint investigation by the Immigration and Borders Brigade of the National Police and the Network Investigation Brigade Group XIII.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office states that the accused ZK and YGG allegedly charged “various amounts of money” to the relatives of the migrants and with the help of MK they transported them to César Manrique Airport between October 6 and November 9, 2020. Once at the airfield, they travelled on different flights of low-cost airlines outside the archipelago.

According to the prosecution, ZK and his wife YGG accommodated them in their home while they waited for the necessary documentation to arrive, presumably after receiving payment of the money demanded from their relatives. Thus, it adds that these amounts were “claimed by the accused” and “were paid into the accounts of the accused themselves, through payments made by Western Union.”

The Prosecutor’s Office is requesting a provisional dismissal and the archiving of the proceedings against two of the accused, KK and MB, as their participation in the events has not been proven.

For the alleged leaders of the ZK and HJ plot, the court is requesting nine years in prison and special disqualification from the right to passive suffrage during the sentence, as well as payment of the costs for crimes against the rights of foreign citizens.

In addition, the court is requesting five years and nine months in prison and special disqualification for the duration of the sentence, as well as payment of costs, for the defendants YGG, YB and MK.