MADRID: Spanish police said Tuesday they have dismantled a criminal ring accused of recruiting unaccompanied migrant girls from care centers in Gran Canaria and moving them to mainland Spain and France, where some were sexually exploited.
The operation comes as migration debates have returned to the forefront across Europe after a mass border crossing from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta last month left hundreds of unaccompanied minors stranded in the city.
The Guardia Civil said the investigation began after a migrant girl who had been under the care of authorities in Gran Canaria returned to Spain from France and told investigators she had been recruited with the promise of a job.
Investigators subsequently identified several similar cases involving girls who left care centers without their personal documents and were later linked to flights to mainland Spain, the Guardia Civil said in a statement.
The network allegedly exploited the girls’ vulnerability, offering to help them leave the Canary Islands while providing false identity or travel documents and arranging their journeys by air and land.
