When the one who helps you cross the border irregularly is an agent of the National Police

Police control at the Beni Enzar border post, on November 30. Adriana Thomasa

Until last week, the Melilla border could be crossed irregularly and smoothly by car for a few thousand euros thanks to the blind eye that agents supposedly turned on both sides of the territorial border between Spain and Morocco.

The business, for the moment, has ended thanks to an operation by the Civil Guard that has just dismantled a plot that facilitated the irregular entry of Moroccans into the autonomous city.

The network charged between 7,000 and 10,000 euros to immigrants who wanted to enter Melilla.

Part of that money was used to bribe police officers from both countries who were working at the checkpoints of the Beni Enzar border crossing, according to sources from the armed institute.

In fact, between the two detainees on the Spanish side, there is an agent from the basic level of the National Police stationed at the border who, allegedly, took advantage of when he was on duty at border control to authorize the passage of people who did not have documentation. .

The second detainee in Spain is a Moroccan citizen with a residence permit who supposedly acted as an intermediary.

This was the one who mediated with the Moroccan agents, the one who recruited interested immigrants in Morocco and the one who even transferred clients in his own vehicle from one country to another.

On the other side of the fence, the Moroccan authorities have arrested two agents of their security forces also for their alleged involvement in the plot, confirm sources familiar with the operation.

The investigation, in the hands of the Melilla Command and the Information Service of the armed institute, is still open and more arrests are not ruled out.

The Civil Guard has yet to analyze the content of the mobile phones and memory devices that were seized in the two house searches carried out.

The two detainees in Spain are accused of belonging to a criminal organization, bribery, omission of the duty to prosecute crimes, disclosure of secrets and a crime against the rights of foreign citizens, according to Civil Guard sources.

The judge investigating the case ordered the entry into pretrial detention of the evasive policeman with the payment of a bail of 30,000 euros, which the agent has made effective.

According to the investigations, the plot began to operate in August of last year, taking advantage of the fact that the border had reopened in May after being closed for more than two years due to the pandemic.

The transit regulations after the opening, however, were much stricter and thousands of Moroccan residents, who before could enter and leave the autonomous cities simply by showing their identity document, now needed a visa to cross the border.

These new restrictions opened up a business opportunity and the group under investigation allegedly began charging Moroccans who wanted to enter Melilla and could not.

The immigrants crossed the border in a car driven by one of the members of the network, with the approval of the bribed agents.

Research is now focused on demonstrating whether,

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