Alex Trelinski
THE Policia Nacional have raided six flats crammed with trafficked migrants in the north of Alicante City.
The living conditions were described as ‘very poor’.
The properties were used as stop-overs by migrants who landed on the Costa Blanca after paying for dangerous sea journeys from North Africa on small boats known as pateras.
Five members of a criminal group, all Algerian nationals, have been arrested for running the illegal shelters.
Three additional people were detained for violating immigration laws.
The police investigation identified six addresses being used as hostels and launched surveillance operations at all of them.
Subsequent raids uncovered 17 residents, including two teenage children who were taken to a juvenile centre in Alicante.
The residents lived in cramped conditions with a small kitchen in one of the properties being used as a bedroom.
The flat in question also had a dangerously rigged-up gas supply.
READ MORE:
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