The Guardia Civil is investigating the disappearance of three young men from Balerma, El Ejido (Almería), who allegedly ventured into the high seas on February 25 on a vessel destined for ‘petaqueo’, which supplies fuel to narco-speedboats and boats engaged in illegal activities.
Sources from the Almería Command have confirmed that an investigation is ongoing to locate Adil Lamsiyah Benaissa, 20; Khaled Khayati, 33, and a third young man, whose identity is unknown.
Adil’s uncle, Jalal Benaissa, said that his nephew was born and raised in Balerma, studied there, and worked as a lifeguard during summers. Until February, he worked with his father in a fruit and vegetable warehouse but was dismissed due to low company production.
“There’s a gang that transports gasoline on boats to others at sea. They target clueless youngsters. They brainwash them for a small sum,” he explained.
He said that his nephew, along with the other two missing individuals, boarded an eight-meter semi-rigid boat on February 25 and set off from somewhere along the Cabo de Gata coast.
“Since then, there’s been no news of the boy. Days passed, and rumours in the village started circulating that the other two had died because the boat capsized 30 nautical miles from Cabo de Gata, but nothing was said about my nephew. If they know the distance, it’s because the boat was geolocated,” he asserts.
He insists that there was “an incredible storm” that Sunday and notes that his sister, Adil’s mother, believed until last Friday that her son had gone to spend a few days with his girlfriend, which is why she didn’t report until that day.
“She looked for the ringleader – of the supposed group of ‘petaqueros’ – because word got out that he had sent them on a semi-rigid with 60 containers to supply other boats at sea. He told her he knew nothing about her son and not to hope for his return,” Jalal maintains.
Adil’s uncle laments that despite the boat’s alleged geolocation, “nothing was done when the signal was lost; Salvamento Marítimo or the Guardia Civil weren’t called.”
He adds that last Monday, after learning that several narco-speedboats had taken refuge in Cabo de Gata, Adil’s mother went back to the Almería Command “to ask if they had found anyone or any drifting boat.”
“My nephew doesn’t know how to handle that boat, nor has he ever been on one in his life. The father had to take sick leave due to depression. The whole family is devastated. Moreover, it seems that a few days before he disappeared, the Guardia Civil stopped my nephew and the leader of this group towing a boat by land, which was seized,” he concludes.
