Seven migrants travelling on a small fibre-optic boat off Cartagena in Spain were rescued on Thursday by NTC soldiers using the coastal patrol boat Bojador, the National Republican Guard said on Saturday.
The rescue was carried out as part of a coastal patrol to detect cross-border crime, according to a Frontex aircraft that spotted the vessel suspected of carrying migrants and followed its route, the GNR said in a statement.
Following the alarm, the intervention of the coastal patrol boat (LPC) Bojador was activated and the GNR military immediately dispatched the boat “to the target, which was 90 nautical miles away.”
“A small fibre optic vessel with seven people on board was intercepted and rescued in safe conditions,” GNR said, adding that “it was still possible to seize the vessel and identify the intermediary involved in this illegal infiltration of people into European territory.”
After completing the rescue operation, the LPC Bojador headed to the port of Cartagena with seven migrants on board, including the intermediary, all adults and men, who were handed over to the competent authorities.
“After disembarking, the Civil Guard verified that an arrest warrant was pending against the identified intermediary, as he had other illegal border crossings in his history, as well as other types of crimes committed on Spanish territory, the reasons for which he was detained,” the GNR emphasizes.
Through the Coastal and Border Control Unit (UCCF), the GNR deployed the LPC Bojador in Operation Indalo 2024, which runs from 12 June to 7 August 2024 under the auspices of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX), as part of the operational coordination at the external borders of the European Union.
The main objectives of this operation are to monitor borders, control illegal immigration flows, combat cross-border crime, strengthen European cooperation at coastguard level and support search and rescue operations.
Since 2021, the Bojador boat has participated in several search and rescue operations, contributing to the detection and rescue of hundreds of migrants in the Mediterranean, in collaboration with other forces, namely the Civil Guard in Spain, the Financial Guard and the Coast Guard, both from Italy, GNR emphasizes.