Officers from the Guardia Civil, Salvamento Marítimo and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency intercepted 101 irregular migrants on board seven small boats located off the coast of Cartagena and the surrounding area of Cabo de Palos on Monday, October 12th, according to the Government Delegation.
The first two boats, carrying 10 and 42 people respectively, were detected by the Integrated External Surveillance System. Territorial patrols of the Guardia Civil travelled to the landing points in Cala Reona and Punta de la Espada to carry out the interception on land.
The remaining five boats, carrying 7, 11, 9, 12 and 10 occupants, respectively, were located in the open sea by vessels from the Provincial Maritime Service of the Guardia Civil, Salvamento Marítimo and Customs Surveillance at a distance of between 10 and 15 nautical miles from Monte Cenizas.
Out of the total 101 people intercepted, 83 are adult males, 4 are women and 14 are minors.
Following their rescue, the occupants of the boats were transferred to the port of Cartagena, where they received medical attention from the Red Cross, which certified that the migrants were in good health. Afterwards, they were handed over to the National Police for the processing of return procedures.