Spanish Police Uncover Trafficking Ring Targeting Migrant Girls

Spanish police announced on Tuesday the dismantling of a criminal gang that trafficked underage migrant girls. The gang is accused of moving them from care centers on the island of Gran Canaria, off the coast of Morocco, to other parts of Spain and across the border to France, where some were subjected to sexual exploitation. Five people, including one minor, were arrested following raids on five locations in Gran Canaria.

According to investigators, the network exploited the girls' vulnerability by offering to help them leave the Canary Islands. Gang members provided them with forged identification and travel documents, and organized their transport by air and land. The Civil Guard stated that it rescued two victims and prevented four other minors from leaving the islands.

The case unfolds against the backdrop of a renewed debate on migration across Europe following the mass infiltration of migrants across the border from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. According to Spanish government data, approximately 72,000 migrants entered the city illegally on July 30 and 31, with 70,000 having since returned to Morocco.

Spain's Minister of Youth and Children stated last Friday that 1,342 unaccompanied and stateless migrant minors remained in the Spanish city on the African continent following the wave of mass migration. In the wake of the incident, aid organizations have issued warnings that these minors, many of whom sleep on the streets of Ceuta in difficult conditions, are highly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.