Spanish police announced Tuesday they’ve broken up a criminal gang that trafficked underage migrant girls. The network is accused of moving them from care centers on Gran Canaria—an island off the coast of Morocco—to mainland Spain and across the border into France, where some were sexually exploited. Five people, including one minor, were arrested in raids on five locations in Gran Canaria.
Police in Spain dismantled a criminal ring accused of trafficking unaccompanied migrant girls from Gran Canaria to mainland Spain and France for sexual exploitation. https://t.co/OSoSt3nLeK pic.twitter.com/luQyBqOTdC
— Arab News (@arabnews) August 11, 2026
The network allegedly exploited the girls’ vulnerable status, offering to help them leave the Canary Islands. Gang members provided them with fake identification and travel documents and arranged their air and ground transportation. The Civil Guard said it rescued two victims and prevented four other minors from leaving the islands.
The case comes amid renewed debate over immigration across Europe, following a massive invasion of Muslims from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. About 72,000 illegals entered the city on July 30 and 31, according to Spanish government figures, and 70,000 of them have since returned to Morocco.
Spain’s Minister of Youth and Children said last Friday that 1,342 unaccompanied migrant minors—without citizenship, homes, or parents—remained in the Spanish city on the African continent following the invasive wave from Morocco. In the wake of the incident, aid organizations have warned that these minors, many of whom are sleeping on Ceuta’s streets in harsh conditions, are exposed to abuse and exploitation.