A Libyan airline official has been implicated in a scheme to transport illegal migrants via Tripoli to Nicaragua, which has become a popular starting point for migrants to attempt to enter the United States via the southern border.
On Monday, Libyan officials arrested the commercial director of Ghadames Air, a Libyan air charter carrier founded in 2021 and based in Tripoli.
Ghadames Air owns just two aircraft, including a Boeing 777, which last flew to Nicaragua’s capital on June 4, according to data supplied by Flight Radar 24. The aircraft has flown to Managua on several occasions over the last few months.
Libya’s Attorney General’s Office said it was investigating Ghadames Air for “committing an activity harmful to the interests of the country,” according to Reuters.
“The company had engaged in an activity … operating flights carrying hundreds of people from East Asian countries without taking into account the obligations of the air carrier and national legislation related to immigration,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
Last December, a plane carrying 300 Indian nationals was detained by French Police at a small airport near Paris after law enforcement received a tip-off of possible human trafficking.
The plane had been chartered from Legend Airways, a Romanian company that picked up the passengers in the United Arab Emirates, with an ultimate destination in Nicaragua.
The Airbus A340 used to operate the flight was, however, required to make a short refuelling stop in France, and this was when local officials swept in to stop the plane from going any further.
Due to lax visa requirements, Nicaragua is one of several countries in Central and South America that is a popular starting point for immigrants looking to enter the United States illegally through the southern border.
Migrants looking to get over the US Southern Border previously tried to get onto scheduled commercial flights but a new business has emerged in which charter companies are employed to fly hundreds of migrants at a time to Central America.
After arriving in Nicaragua, immigrants from Africa and Asia must then make the perilous journey through El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico before they attempt to cross the US border. The journey is often organized by criminal human smuggling gangs.
Late last year, El Salvador became so frustrated with being used as a transit stop for migrants on the so-called ‘Donkey Route’ that it started charging a fee of more than $1,000 to enter the country for anyone coming from a slew of African states, along with India.
The tax applies regardless of where the passenger started their journey.
