Spanish police dismantle ring trafficking migrant girls from the Canary Islands
Spanish authorities announced they have broken up a criminal network that recruited unaccompanied migrant girls from Gran Canaria care centres and moved them to mainland Spain and France, where some were exploited.
Spanish police disclosed that a trafficking network targeting unaccompanied migrant girls from Gran Canaria care facilities has been dismantled. The probe started when a girl who had been under official care returned from France and told authorities she had been recruited with false job offers. Subsequent inquiries uncovered additional cases of girls departing the islands without identification and being linked to flights to mainland Spain and France.
The operation allegedly provided counterfeit documents and organized travel routes, ultimately leading to sexual exploitation for some victims. Law enforcement rescued two girls and prevented four others from leaving, while five individuals, one of them a minor, were detained after searches across Gran Canaria. The case emerges amid heightened migration concerns following a large influx of minors into Ceuta earlier this year.
Why it matters
It highlights the vulnerability of migrant children and the cross-border crime networks exploiting them.
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