Marine authorities in northern Morocco have arrested 30 Moroccans trying to cross the straits of Gibralter in a vessel destined for Spanish shores, officials said Sunday.
The would-be illegal immigrants will have to appear in court in the northern city of Tangiers, after having been caught by police along the shores of Kasr Sghir, officials said.
Illegal immigrants have recently stepped up attempts to get into Europe, according to authorities.
The latest official figures show that Moroccan authorities stopped 17,178 illegal immigrants from entering the country in 1998.
Those figures do not include those who managed to slip past Morocco's lax border controls, but take into account would-be immigrants caught more than once – RABAT (AFP)
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