Near Toulouse, 16 convicted and imprisoned migrant smugglers
Sixteen smugglers were convicted and imprisoned recently, for having made cross the Franco-Spanish border to migrants, in the heart of the Pyrenees, Agence France Presse informed the prosecution on Monday.
Since September 2021, twelve immediate comparisons have been targeted by individuals carrying “mostly Algerians and a few Moroccans”, Saint-Gaudens prosecutor Christophe Amunzateguy told AFP. For “200 to 300 euros on average”, the smugglers, Also Algerians and residing for the most part on Spanish territory, they themselves drove migrants from the city of Lérida, in Catalonia, to Toulouse.
The Pont-du-Roy, a very popular crossing point
While controls were stepped up around Hendaye (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales), the two main roads between France and Spain, the Border Police (PAF) identified “a point of weakness” in Pont-du-Roy (Haute-Garonne), a less interesting crossing point.
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Recruitment of candidates through social networks
The first arrests revealed that these smugglers used their personal vehicle, occupied on average by three or four people, including women and children, for Toulouse rally.
This was done through social networks, indicating a place in Lérida where you can find people who can transport you, either through the family, who knew these smugglers and spoke about them “, describes the prosecutor of Saint-Gaudens.” This does not. is not a structured network, it works at the opportunity “, continues Christophe Amunzateguy, who explains having wanted to bring” a firm response and in line with the means deployed by the PAF “by systematizing the use of immediate comparisons in this type of case .
Sentences “severe enough”
Each time, the drivers, all men, have been convicted, with warrant of committal, to sentences ranging between four and eight months in prison, but being able to go up to twelve months, seeing their vehicles seized and being iforbidden from French territory. “These are quite severe penalties”, recognizes the magistrate.
Most of the arrests took place in September 2021, a time chosen by the authorities, meeting in Melles Police and Customs Cooperation Center, to intensify border controls.
“Since the beginning of October, there has been a halt, but recently we had again the same operating mode so vigilance remains”, says Christophe Amunzateguy.
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