At around 17.30 hours on Wednesday 21st March Royal Gibraltar Police Marine Section officers arrested 5 persons, believed to be Moroccan nationals, for immigration offences and one male person, a Spanish national, for the offence of assisting others to enter another state.

The arrests came about when the officers had their attention drawn to a small cabin cruiser about 0.5 nautical miles off Rosia that appeared to be in difficulties. The navigator was initially uncooperative. On boarding the vessel the five suspected Moroccan nationals were found in a cabin on the bows of the boat. All six men were subsequently arrested and appeared in good health.

All six persons have been charged (five for being a non-Gibraltarian found in Gibraltar without a valid permit or certificate and one for assisting another to enter another state illegally) and will appear in magistrates court this morning.