RABAT, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Morocco has foiled an illegal immigration attempt in the northeastern city of Nador and arrested 25 Sub-Saharan African migrants, the Moroccan police said Tuesday in a statement.
During this operation in late Monday, a person suspected of organizing illegal immigration wanted by police was also arrested, the statement added.
The search also led to the seizure of vests and inner tubes intended to be used in illegal immigration, it added.
On Monday seven sub-Saharan African migrants drowned after a boat accident off Morocco's coast, and 70 others were rescued by a coast guard of the Moroccan Royal Navy.
Morocco has become a hub for African migrants seeking to reach Europe. Thousands of migrants try to flee poverty and unrest in Africa each year through Morocco to Europe, either by land or by sea.
A total of 19,604 migrants had illegally reached the Spanish coasts as of Oct. 14 this year, against 43,467 migrants during the same period in 2018, a drop of 54.9 percent, said a report by the Spanish Interior Ministry on illegal immigration in 2019.
