In what is being billed as the world’s first on-camera interview with a human trafficker, Lauren Southern has seemingly pulled off the impossible. What’s more, she had to do the interview under cover of darkness in Morocca, as filming there is so restrictive that you could be jailed for it.
The video starts off with her friend in Morocco, who tips her off to the source they have found who’s willing to talk on camera. Southern grabs her cameraman and they are on a plane to Africa within a couple of days. When they arrive on location, they get some candid B roll of the area, and Southern starts to get concerned because their source hasn’t shown up to the agreed meeting spot. But as the clock strikes 11:15, an ominous car appears, and the source emerges from it. His name is censored out and his face is blurred.
The source explains that sometimes they traffic 500 people a day from Africa to Spain. He explains that people pay anywhere from €250-€2500 for a spot on one of the rafts. The more someone pays, the higher the likelihood they’ll make it across in one piece. Some rafts can hold up to 50 people. The ringleaders of the operation make hundreds of thousands of Euros a day, from which the source gets a cut.
The interview ends abruptly when another car starts heading toward the secluded spot, as the source is afraid Southern is working for the police. He runs away, making off with Southern’s lavalier microphone.
Though cut short, it’s a fascinating insight into the world of migrants and gang-like traffickers.
According to a Reuters story from last year, Spain is becoming one of the biggest entry points for African migration, thanks to their socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, and Italy shutting down their borders.
