Rabat – Morocco’s police arrested three suspects for organizing irregular migration and human trafficking in Mehdia, near Kenitra, on Wednesday.
The three suspects, including a woman, allegedly have links with a criminal network active in organizing irregular migration and human trafficking, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) reported.
Police arrested the suspects aged 23 and 49 in the region of Kasba in the suburbs of Kenitra.
Preliminary investigations said that the defendants were coordinating with 25 sub-Saharan candidates for irregular migration.
The network intended to transport the migrants irregularly from the local coasts.
Police carried out searches that enabled security services to seize a traditional fishing boat at the port of Mehdia.
Security services suspected the traffickers planned to use the boat for irregular migration.
Morocco’s government has intensified efforts to combat undocumented migration within its borders.
The country’s crackdown on human trafficking enabled police to arrest hundreds of suspects linked to undocumented migration.
The 2019 annual report from the DGSN said security services arrested 505 organizers of undocumented migration involved in 62 criminal human trafficking networks.
Police also arrested 27,317 would-be migrants, including 20,141 of foreign nationality. Moroccans represented 26% of those arrested trying to migrate without documents.
In 2019, Morocco’s government announced that the country’s services foiled over 74,000 undocumented migration attempts.
