Comoros arrests suspected key smuggler after deadly boat sinking
(FILES) Boats sits on Plage de Moya south of city of Mutsamudu, the capital of Anjouan in the Comoros Archipelago, one of the main poit of departure for migrants on February 18, 2024. Authorities in the Indian Ocean nation have opened an investigation into the sinking late on November 1, 2024 of a vessel transporting around 30 migrants from the Comoros island of Anjouan to the French department of Mayotte.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on November 4, 2024 that at least 25 people were killed and only five survived the sinking, the latest on a well-known route to smuggle people to Mayotte. (Photo by Ibrahim YOUSSOUF / AFP)
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(AFP) - Police in the Comoros said Friday they had arrested the alleged leader of a smuggling network involved in the capsizing of a migrant boat that claimed around two dozen lives.
The boat sank on a well-known smuggling route between the Comoros island of Anjouan and the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte on November 1.
"The smuggling ringleader who owned the capsized boat was arrested on Thursday in Anjouan," Colonel Tachfine Ahmed told AFP.
"He admitted that he owned the boat and bought all the material needed for the trip," he added, saying the 37-year-old suspect was a resident of Mayotte.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday that at least 25 people died after the boat was "deliberately capsized by traffickers".
The Comoros police said they knew of 17 deaths.
Fishermen rescued five survivors who said the boat was carrying around 30 people, including women and young children, the IOM said.
A survivor told AFP the smugglers sank the vessel before fleeing on a speedboat.
Police confirmed the survivor's account, saying the two smugglers escaped.
"We are actively looking for the two smugglers who got on another boat," the colonel added.
In addition to homicide charges, the arrested suspect faces up to 10 years imprisonment for belonging to an organised criminal group as well as three years for illegal transport of passengers.
Anjouan is one of the three islands that make up the impoverished nation of Comoros and lies about 70 kilometres (43 miles) northwest of Mayotte, which became a department of France in 2011.
Despite being France's poorest department, Mayotte has French infrastructure and welfare, which makes it attractive to migrants from Comoros seeking a better life.
Many pay smugglers to make the dangerous sea crossing in rickety fishing boats known as "kwassa-kwassa".
© Agence France-Presse
