Wednesday, June 7, 2006

MADRID, Spain (AFP): Spanish police have launched an international manhunt for a human trafficker who left 47 African migrants on his boat to slowly starve to death as they drifted across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Caribbean island of Barbados, a Spanish daily reported Tuesday.

The would-be migrants departed from Cape Verde in December after paying 1200 to 1500 euros (1500 to 1900 dollars) each, but never made it to their intended destination, the Spanish Canary Islands off coast of northwestern Africa, El Pais said.

Instead, they drifted helplessly after their vessel broke down.

It was found four months later near Barbados, with only 11 cadavers left on board. The others passengers had apparently been thrown overboard as they died.

Because the yacht returned to shore briefly before resuming its fateful voyage, six passengers who opted out of the trip have provided police with detailed physical descriptions of the men who organized the smuggling operation, including the boat owner.

Spanish police, who know the owner's identity, have mobilized units in Ibiza, Barcelona, Madrid and Las Palmas in the Canaries to track the culprits. Interpol is also working on the case, the daily said.

One of the survivors, identified simply as Leon, told the newspaper that he and 52 other Africans hoping to be smuggled onto European soil boarded the vessel on December 24 at Puerto de Praia in Cape Verde.

"On the dock, there were three white men in charge of the boat. One was the owner.... They spoke Spanish amongst themselves and none knew Portuguese or French," Leon said.

The traffickers assured their clients that they would be in the Canaries within three days, and that there was enough gas on board for nine.

Leon and five other passengers, in a decision that was to save their lives, abandoned the boat after it returned temporarily to shore after engine problems.

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