Alex Trelinski
THE Guardia Civil have impounded a boat stolen in Alicante province that ferried migrants from Algeria to the Balearic Islands.
Officers intercepted the craft with 28 migrants on board last Saturday south of Formentera.
The vessel had been stolen a few days earlier from the port of Denia and that the alleged thief was a skipper of a boat that had previously made the dangerous crossing from North Africa.
READ MORE:
Investigators believe he took a ferry from Ibiza to Denia where he stole the boat and then travelled back in it to Algeria before it was used for a fresh trip with a group of migrants.
The boat was not typical of those making the perilous crossings and was a luxurious semi-rigid craft with a powerful outboard motor.
Officers are trying to determine if any of the 28 people on board the craft had any links with another boat, as well as the possibility that once the thief got to Algeria, he simply passed on the stolen Denia vessel to another person.
The Balearic Islands have had a new wave of migrant boats during the last three days totalling 10 with 172 people on board
Most have been intercepted off Formentera and in the last case, the migrants allegedly set fire to their vessel when they were near the coast.
