Spain police bust rings that smuggled Dominicans

Madrid.- The SpanishNational Police on Tuesday said it dismantled two organizations that smuggled Dominicancitizens into Spain and when discovered, the women sought asylum citing abuse,whereas the men argued the same on their sexual orientation, EFE reports.

in a statement Policesaid 19 people were apprehended in the Dominican Republic, charged with providing documents to citizensof that country on other people to travel to Spain.

When the tracking wasdetected at Madrid´s airport and entry was denied, the immigrants then requestedinternational protection.

The jump in asylumapplications by Dominican citizens alerted authorities at Madrid´s Barajas Airport,which sent specialized agents to investigate the case in the Caribbean country.

In fact, the requests forinternational protection jumped from seven in 2014 to over 200 in the firsteight months this year, which raised the suspicion of the agents who proceededto review each case.