The National Police of Ha arrested three men accused of two paters from North Africa who had to be rescued in early May by maritime rescue after staying weeks drift at sea. The occupants of the two vessels were rescued with symptoms of dehydration and several of them had to enter the Can Misses hospital to recover from the crossing. The three detainees, two of Gambian origin and the third Nigerian, have been released after giving a statement and are accused of crimes against the rights of foreign citizens and for favoring illegal immigration.
The events occurred on May 2, when a drift vessel was rescued by a maritime rescue boat in the waters of the coast of Ibiza at 13.30 in the afternoon. In the patera, 22 people from different nationalities were traveling, mainly Somalis, Nigerians and Sudanese, who when stepping on land presented evident signs of dehydration, disorientation and solar burns. In fact, some of the occupants had to be transferred to a hospital to be treated for the injuries suffered during the trip.
As police sources have explained, two days later, on May four, about nine o’clock at night, a second patera had to be rescued again by maritime rescue. This time they were traveling on board 25 people from Mali, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Liberia. The occupants of this second boat also had symptoms of dehydration and solar burns. One of the rescued people entered the Intensive Care Unit of the Can Misses hospital given the seriousness of her situation, while a nine -month -old pregnant woman had to be hospitalized urgently because during the aborted journey.
The agents of the central unit of immigration networks and documentary falsehoods (UCRIF) of the National Police of the Balearic Islands began an investigation into what happened after the arrival in the port of the migrants. After taking a statement, they discovered that the boats had been drifting several weeks, in which their occupants had found themselves without water and without food and exposed to a very adverse meteorology. In their statements before the police, the rescued migrants said that their initial intention was to reach Mallorca.
After the statements of the survivors, the agents identified the people indicated as alleged patterns of the pateras and allegedly guided vessels to the islands, putting the lives of their occupants at extreme risk. According to the police statements of the rescued, the patterns came to throw the bodies of two people killed during the trip. The three detainees have spent at noon on Tuesday at judicial provision, and have been released after giving a statement.
