Spain arrests five over alleged trafficking of migrant girls

Spanish police said on August 11 that they had dismantled a criminal ring accused of recruiting unaccompanied migrant girls from care centres in Gran Canaria and moving them to mainland Spain and France, where some were sexually exploited.

The Guardia Civil said the investigation began after a migrant girl who had been under official care in Gran Canaria returned to Spain from France and told investigators she had been recruited with the promise of a job.

Investigators later identified several similar cases involving girls who left care centres without their personal documents and were linked to flights to mainland Spain, the Guardia Civil said.

The force said the network allegedly exploited the girls' vulnerability, provided false identity or travel documents and arranged journeys by air and land. It said two victims were rescued and four other minors were prevented from leaving the islands.

Five people were arrested, including one minor, after five searches across Gran Canaria.

The operation comes after a mass border crossing from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta on July 30 and 31. Spanish government figures said about 72,000 migrants crossed, with 70,000 since returned to Morocco. Spain's Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego said 1,342 unaccompanied migrant minors had been registered in Ceuta after the influx.