The Spanish National Police announced on Monday that it has arrested three people for the deaths of five migrants who were forced to jump off a boat when crossing the Atlantic Ocean in November 2023.

The police identified two men and a woman in Cádiz and Granada as allegedly responsible for the drowning of the five migrants last November. On November 29, 2023, a speedboat was sailing from Morocco to Spain carrying 37 migrants on board, each of whom was charged between €3,000 and €12,000 (around $3,270 – $13,075). When the boat neared the shore of Cádiz, the traffickers forced the migrants to jump off the boat with a knife in an area with strong currents, knowing that some of them could not swim, causing five deaths and many injuries. 

The police said that all three suspects now face five charges under the Spanish Penal Code, including the offenses of homicide, participation in a criminal organization, crimes against the rights of foreign citizens, injuries and smuggling. The police also stated that there could be new arrests as the investigation continues.

According to Spanish newspaper El País, it is a common practice for migrant boat drivers to throw or force migrants off the boats and turn back quickly when nearing the shores of Europe to avoid being intercepted by the police. Notably, data released by the Spanish Interior Ministry show that the number of illegal migrants arriving in Spain increased by over 80 percent to 56,852 in 2023, with a significant portion of them entering through the Canary Islands by sea.