Islamic terrorism

Jihadists use human trafficking networks to return to Europe

Published on 12 February 2015 at 11:05

Human trafficking mafias could be using Spain as a platform to help European jihadists return from Syria to their home countries using false passports and identities, reports El País. This is the main conclusion of a special Spanish police report issued at the end of 2014 – before the Charlie Hebdo attacks – about the fight against jihadist terrorism. The report stresses that the economic benefits for these criminal organisations are infinitely greater than those related to drug trafficking, and it is suspected that most of these benefits are used to finance the Islamic State.

Most of jihadists use three routes to enter Europe. The African route, which reaches Melilla, a Spanish enclave in Northern Africa. The second, via South America, begins in Turkey and Greece and ends in Spain via Venezuela or Brazil. The third, the European route, culminates in the United Kingdom, but also passes through other European countries. As El País stresses, —

There is a double threat: the proliferation of human trafficking mafias as civilians escape from conflict zones and from terrorist elements, and European former jihadists who come back to Europe using the same networks.

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