Senegalese, Moroccan illegal migration networks dismantled

A court in Tangiers sentenced Tuesday two Moroccans to one year and six months imprisonment respectively, with a 1,500 Dirhams ($130) fine each, and a Senegalese expatriate to four months and a fine of the same amount. The three offenders were taken to court on charges of creating illegal migration networks.

The two Moroccans, along with other accomplices still on the run, helped candidates to illegal immigration travel to Europe on international transport trucks for sums varying between $2,000 and $3,000.

They were arrested on May 8 after two persons died of suffocation in a truck carrying electric cables, bound for Napoli, Italy.

The Senegalese expatriate, who organized the transportation of illegal migrants from Rabat and Casablanca to Tangier and their travel to Europe, was caught in a small hotel in Tangier Medina (old town) with 18 sub-Saharan nationals from different nationalities, waiting to be taken to Europe.

The court also ordered on Thursday the expulsion of the 18 Africans out of the Moroccan territory.