Spain arrests 14 accused of defrauding families of missing migrants

FILE PHOTO: A fiber boat with migrants arrives at the port of Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, February 8, 2024. REUTERS/Borja Suarez/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Civil Guard has arrested 14 people for allegedly seeking to profit from the families of missing migrants from North Africa, promising them to find, identify and repatriate their bodies in return for money, it said on Wednesday.

The network lured victims by posting messages offering their services on social media, police said. The group allegedly spoke over several years with relatives in Morocco and Algeria whose family members were missing and feared to have died at sea while trying to reach the Spanish coast in small boats.