Network of Unaccompanied Minors Targeted by Police Crackdown Across Canary Islands and Mainland Spain

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The case centers on a network that charged roughly one thousand euros to move Moroccan minors under guardianship in reception centers on the Canary Islands. The youths traveled by plane using third‑party passports to airports in Alicante, Malaga, Valencia, and Barcelona.

This is described as an illegal immigrant operation mainly dealing in unaccompanied foreign minors, organized by a group linked to the national police crackdown this week in Lorca and in Crevillente and Callosa de Segura, towns near Alicante. The journeys of the unaccompanied minors were reportedly coordinated by a group of facilitators, with family members in Morocco or elsewhere assisting them, and with the travelers always accompanied on the flights by those acting as passers-by for the network.

The investigation targets an institution under scrutiny, the Unit Against Illegal Immigrant Networks (UCRIF), which appears to involve at least thirteen people of Moroccan origin. Seven of them were detained in Crevillente and Callosa de Segura last Monday, under the supervision of Court No. 4 of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in Tenerife. Within the region, two further arrests took place in Lorca. The National Police has requested the detention of the remaining four members on charges related to the use of forged documents, noting they may be abroad or still located elsewhere in Spain.

Different travelers used the same set of papers, according to investigators examining the network’s flight arrangements. Passports used by various minors on the journeys showed common linkages, suggesting the leaders employed the same documents to move minors to the peninsula. The operation involved UCRIF agents from the central brigade in Murcia, Tenerife, Alicante, Elche, and Madrid, with cooperation from the Crevillente Local Police, where the main suspect resided. The operation is commonly referred to as Operation Akrón by authorities.

Tenerife’s court handling the case ordered the imprisonment of two leaders from the network seized in Alicante. One of these leaders, a resident of Crevillente, is considered the principal suspect. Five other individuals arrested in the Alicante province were released on charges, while two leaders based outside Spain remained in custody in Turkey, and a third person linked to the group remained in Lorca as investigators pursued the case against the organization in broader terms. Alongside leadership, investigators accuse several members of acting as catchers who personally accompany minors on flights and then drive them toward their destinations.

The remaining seven individuals involved reportedly provided forged or misused documents to the ringleaders, enabling minors brought from Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Lanzarote to travel to the peninsula. Some of these people were responsible for booking and funding the flights. This loosely connected operation has been operating since 2021, and police began the formal inquiry in January after a non‑governmental organization focused on child protection in the Canary Islands raised concerns about offers to foreign children under guardianship. The NGO alerted authorities to cases where young people were offered to leave the island and travel to the mainland using documents from their own countries, all in exchange for money.

Seven people were also arrested in the nearby Alicante towns of Callosa de Segura and Crevillente.

A month later, some of the minors were admitted to a center in Valencia after escaping the Canary Islands. Two children fled to Valencia with tickets paid for by their families, according to testimonies collected by the National Police in recent months as it works to identify all network members and extend the arrests. Valencia authorities reported that some minors traveled from Tenerife to Valencia on passports taken from other people. A third minor from Lanzarote said he managed to fly thanks to individuals who aided him. Further investigations show a recurring pattern of new departures for vulnerable children from Canary Islands centers, with several attempting to board planes using third‑party documents supplied by the organization, which is now dispersed.

The police investigation also records an incident that occurred at Fuerteventura airport on April 23, 2022, when the network’s leader reportedly prepared to board a flight to Valencia with three unaccompanied minors. The suspect was identified by an off‑duty officer who alerted his Valencia colleagues. On that occasion, the leader did not depart after suspecting a staff member’s suspicion, and warned the three young travelers to exit the queue as airport security footage later captured the moment.

Current UCRIF inquiries remain open, with signs that other offenses connected to the group may surface as the investigation continues and more information is reviewed.

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