Moroccan police today arrested a group of 25 emigrants from sub-Saharan countries in Tangier, in the north of the country, while they were carrying metal hooks that are commonly used in attempts to jump over the fences with the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

According to a statement from the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) they were arrested at a police checkpoint at the entrance to Tangier when they were on board a bus.

Those arrested were carrying “metallic material manufactured by hand that is supposedly used in clandestine emigration operations,” reads the statement, which added that these Sub-Saharans did not carry any identity or travel documents and “reside irregularly in Morocco.”

Those arrested have submitted to the judicial investigation, carried out under the supervision of the competent prosecutor’s office, to determine the circumstances of these events.

The arrest comes two weeks after the massive jump of emigrants from the fence between the Moroccan city of Nador and the Spanish city of Melilla, in which 23 emigrants died, according to official figures.

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