Life of a Migrant Smuggler: “I Make Money, and Spain Pays for My Flight Back”
A migrant boat arrives at the Canary island of El Hierro
Antonio SEMPERE / AFP
The migration crisis in Europe has become a lucrative business for human traffickers who operate with total impunity, thanks to the European Union’s lax immigration policies. A clear example is the story of Ely, a Mauritanian who has turned the illegal transportation of migrants into a profitable business with minimal legal risks. His testimony highlights the failure of migration control policies and the ineffectiveness of repatriation agreements between Spain and the countries of origin.
Ely has built a reputation on the Atlantic coast of Mauritania as the “captain” who has completed four crossings to the Canary Islands without casualties or shipwrecks. However, the core issue is not his skill as a navigator but rather the ease with which this business thrives without real consequences for those responsible.
“I better cover myself up well. I don’t want to end up in jail next time,” Ely says in an interview with a Spanish media outlet. However, the reality is that, despite being detained multiple times in the Canary Islands, he has been repeatedly repatriated to Mauritania without significant repercussions. This situation raises a key question: How is it possible that someone actively involved in human trafficking has been sent back time and again without facing serious legal consequences?
Each migrant pays between 1,000 and 3,000 euros for a spot in a canoe. In a journey carrying 60 to 90 people, profits can range from 60,000 to 270,000 euros per trip. Of this amount, Ely personally receives between 3,000 and 6,500 euros per journey. Meanwhile, a fisherman in Mauritania barely earns six euros a day. The economic disparity explains why human trafficking is so profitable—especially given the lack of response from European authorities.
Paradoxically, once in Spanish territory, the reception and repatriation system means that the state bears the costs of illegal immigration—detention centers, maintenance, healthcare, and return flights, all paid for by Spanish taxpayers. “I go, I make money, and Spain pays for my flight back,” Ely admits.
The UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) was signed in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2018. In this agreement, states committed to increasing resources for immigration, reception, and integration. In other words, the agreement promoted mass migration on a global scale. Nowhere in the document was there mention of combating or reducing illegal immigration; quite the opposite.
The policies being implemented align with this vision of reality. The EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum, initiated during the previous Von der Leyen administration and continued in the current one, does not mention reducing migration flows. Instead, it seeks to open as many legal pathways as possible to turn massive irregular migration into something merely “regular.” In other words, it aims to use bureaucracy to legalize what is currently illegal.
Complicit in the system
The impunity with which these traffickers operate would not be possible without a chain of corruption and vested interests facilitating the process. Smugglers bribe local gendarmerie officers exceeding 1,000 euros per boat from Mauritania to the Canary Islands. This sum is five times the country’s average monthly salary for a security officer. Furthermore, in open waters, experienced captains like Ely know how to avoid radar detection, allowing many of these journeys to succeed without interference.
Meanwhile, in European territory, NGOs operating in the Mediterranean have repeatedly been accused of indirectly facilitating the human trafficking business by picking up migrants in international waters and transporting them to Europe. Reports from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) have warned about the connection between the activities of these NGOs and the increase in illegal migration routes.
Journalistic investigations have documented cases in which rescue groups have coordinated operations with traffickers, reinforcing the pull factor and complicating efforts to control irregular migration. This, instead of discouraging illegal immigration, creates an incentive that multiplies the number of people willing to pay traffickers to reach the continent.
The Spanish Penal Code establishes prison sentences of up to eight years for those who facilitate illegal immigration. However, in practice, sentences rarely exceed three to six years, and in many cases, offenders avoid prison altogether and are simply deported to their countries of origin. Traffickers calculate the risks and understand that the chances of facing a severe penalty are minimal.
According to data from the Spanish Ministry of Interior from 2023, more than 400 arrests related to human trafficking were recorded, but less than 30% of the accused received practical convictions. Most cases resulted in deportations without serving prison sentences, reinforcing the perception of impunity among those operating these illegal networks. For Ely and many others, being arrested in the Canary Islands is merely a minor setback in a highly profitable business.
Spain has more than nine million foreign residents, with Moroccans being the largest immigrant community. Data shows that most Moroccan immigrants are unemployed, significantly impacting the labor market. In Catalonia, more than half of registered Moroccan women do not work (54.2%), and Moroccan men also have the highest unemployment rate among foreigners (27.1%). Nationally, the union Solidaridad reports that despite the increase in immigration, the number of Moroccan contributors to social security has barely reached 200,000, indicating a low economic and social contribution.
Unemployment among immigrants is 7.5 points higher than among Spaniards, with 2.5 million foreigners either unemployed or inactive. The Active Population Survey for the first quarter of 2024 reveals that 60% of unemployed immigrants have been jobless for over a year.
In the last decade, 1.5 million foreigners have been granted Spanish nationality, 350,000 of whom are Moroccan, raising concerns about the strain on public services and national security. Yet, the government continues to promote further immigration as a supposed solution to the demographic crisis, despite the increasing labor precariousness and the collapse of social assistance programs.
