A man previously convicted of terrorist indoctrination and banned from entering Spain has been caught hiding in Ceuta.
The Moroccan national is said to have slipped into the Spanish enclave during the mass migrant crossing at the end of July.
The man was arrested by the Guardia Civil in Ceuta’s port this week after he was stopped on a motorcycle, according to local newspaper El Faro de Ceuta.
Checks on his identity revealed that he was subject to an active ban on entering Spanish territory following a previous conviction for an offence related to terrorist indoctrination.
He had been staying at a property in Ceuta before he was discovered. He has now been expelled back to Morocco.
Sources cited by El Faro de Ceuta confirmed the operation, although the Guardia Civil has not publicly announced the case.
Security checks following mass arrivals
The discovery comes amid intensive efforts by the police to identify people who entered Ceuta during the unprecedented migration crisis and establish whether any have criminal records, outstanding warrants or travel bans.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said earlier this month that security services were carrying out checks on those who entered the city.
According to information reported by El Independiente, Spain’s CNI intelligence service had alerted the Interior Ministry to three people who entered Ceuta despite having previously been expelled from Spain and being subject to bans on returning.
