Two arrests for skippering migrant boat

Typical migrant boat (Archive) | Photo: Archive

Andrew EdePalma09/10/2022 15:08

On Friday, the National Police arrested two Algerian men, aged 19 and 27, charging them with facilitating illegal immigration and belonging to a criminal organisation. The two appeared in court on Saturday and were remanded in custody.

Last Wednesday, a migrant boat was intercepted off Mallorca by the Maritime Safety Agency. There were fifteen people on board a boat that had one engine and no life jackets and which at one point had been drifting because of engine failure. The two managed to fix the engine after around three hours. During the crossing from Algeria, one of the migrants, who couldn't swim, fell into the sea and had to be rescued.

Once in Mallorca, police investigations established that the two had both previously been detained in Spain for illegal entry and that one of the two had a record for a breaking and entering offence last year.