Agents of the National Police have dismantled an international network that brought migrants from Senegal through Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport into Spain, posing as certain beneficiaries, and this operation led to the arrest of twelve people in different parts of the Community of Madrid and Alcoy, including the network’s leader at the European level. The organization maintained a detailed manual explaining the exact steps to request asylum in the country. After overcoming the initial hurdle of traveling from Senegal to the Moroccan city of Casablanca, the migrants followed the organization’s instructions and purchased airline tickets to various South American destinations.
These flights required a layover at the Madrid airport, using Spain as a gateway to the European Union. In reality, the intended final destination was not reached; taking advantage of the visa-free transit requirement, once they arrived in Spain they abandoned their travel plans. After boarding in Casablanca with their original passport, they would seal their passport inside the aircraft. Upon arrival in Spain, they reported to authorities lacking documentation, claiming to be minors and originating from conflict zones such as Mali or Ethiopia.
After applying for asylum, these individuals of Senegalese origin, who were allegedly minors, were not detained at the airport while their asylum application was processed. Instead, they were moved to the Community of Madrid’s first reception centers for protection purposes.
These centers operate with an open regime, so once admitted, residents could leave without formalizing an asylum application. The organization ran a comprehensive network for picking up and transporting these people when they left the center, with various individuals arriving by car to relocate them to different bus stations, airports, or even directly to France, Germany, or Belgium, in exchange for money.
The fact that victims of this clandestine immigration network could be minors drew the attention of the Madrid Public Prosecutor’s Office for Minors, which assigned initial investigative tasks to the Madrid Foreigners and Borders Brigade and the Madrid Provincial Information Brigade. They established that in no case were these individuals minors.
The investigation remains open, and further arrests are not ruled out. [Source: Policía Nacional].