On Monday, the Public Prosecution in Libya issued an arrest warrant for the commercial director of Ghadames Airlines, on charges of facilitating irregular immigration to the United States via Nicaragua.
This decision comes in light of the ongoing investigations that revealed the company’s involvement in transporting hundreds of people wishing to enter American territory illegally.
The prosecution explained in a statement issued by it that investigations showed that Ghadames Airlines organized flights carrying hundreds of passengers from East Asian countries, without taking into account the legal obligations of the air carrier, or national and international legislation related to immigration.
The statement also indicated that the company violated the Protocol against Smuggling of Migrants, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
The statement continued that these practices harmed the interests of the Libyan state, which prompted investigators to issue an order to imprison the company’s commercial director pending investigation.
Last June, the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa reported the arrival of a third flight from Libya to the capital, Managua, in less than a month, despite American warnings about exploiting civilian flights for migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
The newspaper reported that a “Ghadames Airlines” flight carrying about 400 passengers departed from Mitiga International Airport and arrived at Augusto C. Sandino International Airport in Managua, noting that the flight was not registered with the National Aviation Authority in Nicaragua.
These developments come at a time when, on May 15, the US Department of Homeland Security issued a warning to airlines, travel agents and air service providers about migrant smuggling networks exploiting transportation services to facilitate irregular migration to the United States via Nicaragua.
French media reports revealed that the cost of air travel between Asia and Nicaragua via Libya ranges between 10,000 and 20,000 euros, which indicates the existence of a new secret path for irregular immigrants seeking to reach the United States, taking advantage of Managua’s decision to cancel entry visas for a number of African and Asian countries and replace them with a tax Access.
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