Authorities uncovered a troubling scheme in which roughly one thousand euros were taken from Moroccan minors under guardianship in Canary Islands reception centers. The funds were sent on planes to Turkish airports using third‑party passports. The routes included Alicante, Malaga, Valencia, and Barcelona. This is how a network of people involved in illegal migration, mainly moving unaccompanied foreign minors, operated this week, according to the National Police. The leaders were based in Crevillent, Callosa de Segura, and Lorca. The minors who fled reception centers were always accompanied by the network’s facilitators on flights, with families in Morocco or others financing these trips.
The organization, under investigation by the Police Against Illegal Immigration Networks, is carefully monitored. A court in San Cristóbal de La Laguna in Tenerife issued the arrest warrants. The group consists of at least thirteen individuals of Moroccan origin, seven of whom were detained in Crevillent and Callosa de Segura last Monday. Two arrests occurred in Lorca, in the Region of Murcia, and the National Police sought court authorization to arrest four additional members on false documents, who may be located abroad or still in Spain.
From seven detainees in Crevillent and Callosa, the Tenerife court decided to imprison the two alleged leaders who were arrested in Alicante. One of them resided in Crevillent and was considered by investigators to be the principal organizer of the operation, reportedly codenamed Akron. The case is defended by lawyer Fernando Rocamora from the firm Francisco Miguel Galiana Bottle.
Five other individuals were arrested in Alicante province, two with legal representation from lawyer José Soler Martin, and they were released on charges.
Alongside the two leaders based in Crevillent and Callosa, authorities identified a third person in charge in Lorca. In addition to leading the group, these individuals were accused of acting as coordinators and facilitators, personally escorting minors on flights and then directing them to final destinations by car.
Seven other suspects were found to have supplied the ringleaders with the passports used for travel. Minors were brought from Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Lanzarote to the peninsula. The remaining three examined individuals were responsible for arranging and paying for the flights.
The network, described as a segregated organization, has operated since 2021. Police began the investigation in January after an alarm raised by a non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting minors in the Canary Islands. The NGO alerted authorities to a facility in Puerto de la Cruz where local guardianship minors were offered the chance to leave the island and travel to the mainland with documents from their home country, all in exchange for money.
Two young boys who fled the Canary Islands were admitted to a Valencia center a month later, triggering further inquiries. Based on their statements, the National Police have gathered evidence over recent months to identify all members of the network and pursue additional arrests.
Minors in Valencia informed authorities that they had traveled from Tenerife to the mainland on planes using someone else’s documents, with families covering the ticket costs. A third minor from Lanzarote also confirmed that he could fly thanks to trusted individuals.
Investigations over several months uncovered further attempts by minors to escape from Canary Islands centers; some were intercepted at airports while trying to depart using third‑party passports supplied by the organization. The group has since been dismantled.
Police records include an incident from April 23, 2022, at Fuerteventura airport, where the operation’s main leader attempted to board a flight to Valencia with three minors. An off‑duty officer alerted colleagues in Valencia, and airport security footage later showed the leader warning the minors to depart as the airline staff acted or suspected a security issue.
Audits of the network’s contracted flights confirmed that the passports used by different minors carried shared identifiers, implying that the leaders reused the same documents for the minors entering the peninsula. Police operations involved UCRIF units from Tenerife, Alicante, Elche, Murcia, and the central brigade in Madrid, with support from the Crevillent Local Police, the residence of the principal suspects. Investigators continue to link further crimes to the organization as new evidence emerges.
The UCRIF inquiry remains active as investigators expand the scope of alleged criminal activity connected to the network.