Local man arrested on suspicion of assisting illegal immigration after port incursion incident

A 19-year-old local man was arrested by the Royal Gibraltar Police on Friday evening on suspicion of assisting illegal immigration after a Guardia Civil vessel chased a Spanish-registered speedboat into Gibraltar’s harbour. 

The incident was classed as an incursion because Spanish authorities failed to alert their Gibraltar counterparts of the chase in British waters, highlighting a failure of cooperation in cross-border maritime law enforcement less than two months into the provisional application of the UK/EU treaty. 

But it also raised suspicions that local persons may be somehow involved in people trafficking across the Strait of Gibraltar in the wake of the migrant crisis in Ceuta. 

Friday’s incident unfolded against the backdrop of concern about unlawful migration across the strait after 80,000 people entered Ceuta unlawfully late July.  

While most returned to Morocco voluntarily, several thousand still remain in Ceuta, plunging the Spanish  North African enclave into an uncertain situation, upending its normal daily life and fuelling fears about safety and security. 

In recent weeks, numerous vessels have been sighted dropping migrants off on the Spanish coastline. 

The incursion on Friday also comes during the early stages of provisional implementation of the UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar, which includes a framework to strengthen cross-border law enforcement cooperation including joint immigration patrols at sea. 

“HM Government of Gibraltar and Gibraltar's law enforcement agencies stand ready to cooperate and coordinate with the law enforcement agencies of Spain in tackling illegal migration and people smuggling,” No.6 Convent Place said over the weekend. 

“[But] when Gibraltar's authorities are not notified, that cooperation cannot take place.” 

The incident unfolded just after 6pm on Friday when the RGP received information from a member of the public that a Guardia Civil rigid-hulled inflatable vessel was towing a speedboat abandoned by its occupants near Peter Isola Promenade by the small boat marina. 

The crew of the RGP Marine Section interceptor Sir Francis Richards recovered the abandoned vessel from the Guardia Civil within British waters off the North Mole, with Customs and the Gibraltar Squadron also at the scene. 

“The Spanish registered vessel, together with a second Spanish-registered vessel also crewed by two persons, had been pursued by Spanish authorities into BGTW for their alleged involvement in illicit migrant smuggling activities,” the RGP said in a statement. 

“During the course of the incident, RGP officers arrested a 19-year-old local man on suspicion of assisting illegal immigration, whilst officers from HM Customs Marine Unit stopped the second vessel being pursued by Spanish authorities and detained its two occupants whilst the vessel was searched and documentation was checked, after which they were released.” 

The person arrested by the RGP was interviewed and has been released on bail to return at a later date while investigations continue. The seized vessel remains in police custody. 

The RGP has released no information on what investigators believe the local man’s alleged role may have been, or whether he had any connection to the people aboard the Spanish-registered vessel, or where those persons are now. 

But his arrest places the focus on the circumstances surrounding the incident and whether the events in the harbour were simply the end of a pursuit that started in the strait or formed part of a wider operation with links to Gibraltar. 

The investigation remains live and the RGP said it would offer no further information at this stage. 

Alongside the police investigation, No.6 Convent Place and the Office of the Governor are reviewing the events leading to the arrest and the diplomatic implications of the way the Guardia Civil handled the chase. 

The Government said the incident could potentially be “very serious” given that a Guardia Civil vessel had entered British waters and attempted to take executive action without notifying Gibraltar’s authorities, even while acknowledging that Spanish officers had been pursuing the vessel on suspicion of a serious offence. 

“That does not alter the position that Guardia Civil vessels have no jurisdiction in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, and that the proper course in such cases is to alert Gibraltar's law enforcement agencies, who are fully capable of acting, as they did today,” No.6 said. 

Keith Azopardi, the Leader of the Opposition, said the footage of the Guardia Civil vessel inside the port was concerning. 

“[It’s] clear operation wasn’t originally coordinated with our authorities,” he said on his social media. 

“That’s unacceptable.” 

“Security and monitoring support to RGP and Customs in port area should be further enhanced.” 

Both the Government and the Opposition thanked the officers of the RGP and HM Customs for their swift response, with No.6 also thanking the member of the public who reported the incident.