2 people smugglers sentenced to 9 years each in Spain for drowning deaths of migrants

MADRID (AP) — Two people smugglers have been sentenced to nine years each in prison for the deaths of four Moroccan migrants who drowned after they were forced to jump out of a boat last year near the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. The prosecutor’s office in Ceuta said the sentences were decided on without trial after a plea deal was reached with the men. Officials said the pair picked up nine young men in a recreational boat in Morocco with the aim of getting them to Spanish territory illegally in January 2023. The smugglers forced the migrants to jump into the water and swim to shore. Five managed to do so but four drowned.