Rabat – A joint operation by the judicial police in the Moroccan cities of Fez and Nador led to the arrest of three people on Sunday for their alleged involvement in kidnapping, according to a security source.
The individuals were also suspected of being involved in crimes pertaining to detention, ransom demands, organizing illegal migration, and human trafficking.
The suspects, who are said to be holding a criminal record, are aged between 35 and 41 years.
The security source also stated that a person with a criminal record is said to have been kidnapped and held in Nador. In order to determine the basis for this kidnapping and detention, police officials in Fez have launched a judicial inquiry, and investigations are still ongoing.
The kidnappers demanded a ransom to release their detainee, before the joint coordination between the security services in Fez and Nador identified the three suspects and arrested them in Beni Ansar, a town in the Nador Province in northern Morocco.
However, ongoing investigations revealed that the suspects had released the victim before they were arrested, but were planning to carry out an illegal migration operation for 22 irregular migration candidates, including two girls and a minor, who were discovered inside a residence in Nador.
Both the suspects and the irregular migrants were subjected to judicial investigation, supervised by the competent public prosecution, in order to fully ascertain the facts surrounding this case.
Investigators will closely examine the real cause for the kidnapping and detention, as it could have something to do with settling scores amongst networks that facilitate illegal migration.
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