Since the beginning of 2006, the number of illegal immigrants from Africa who have arrived on the shores of the Canary Islands is estimated at more than 27,200. The helicopters of the Guardia Civil and the Spanish Police are part of the teams patrolling Europe’s southern borders. They will soon be receiving more help from the EC135.

Since 2002, the flow of illegal immigrants attempting to enter Europe through Southern Spain has been continuously increasing. “Initially, the Strait of Gibraltar was the main point of entry, but over the past two years, the boats have been landing more frequently in the Canary Islands. We intercept six or seven every day,” said José María Cervera, the Executive Commissioner of the Spanish Police force.

“These are desperate people who travel from Africa to Spain in extremely dangerous conditions. The Gardia Civil and the Police must work closely together to deal with this problem.”
“Our mission is to patrol the borders and seacoasts and to locate the illegal immigrants, who are often in small boats such as cayucos(1) and pateras(2),” explained Capt. Gustavo Dorda of the Gardia Civil, who is also a pilot of the BO105, BK117 and EC135.

“We can detect the cayucos with our FLIR(3); even though the boats are made of wood, we can detect the body heat of the occupants. We locate them based on information we receive, or else when they emit calls for help. Sometimes we just find them by pure luck.
Once we spot one of the boats, we indicate its position to the Gardia Civil. When lives are at risk we perform rescue operations. We perform more than just surveillance work; we also provide humanitarian assistance whenever necessary.”

The number of helicopters that the Police and the Gardia Civil assign to patrolling for illegal immigration varies according to needs. “The ‘tidal wave’ of pateras that washed up on the shores of the Canaries in the summer of 2006 resulted in an international mission being launched as a consequence in Mauritania,” said Capt. Dorda.
“The Police operated a helicopter out of Senegal. To handle the increased needs, we sent more helicopters to the Canaries and we intensified maintenance activities to increase their availability.”

“The most difficult part of immigration patrols is the night surveillance work," pointed out José María Cervera, who has been participating in law enforcement missions for more than twenty years now.
“It’s extremely tiring for the pilots. For these missions, the arrival of the EC135(4), which has an extremely modern automatic flight control system, will be of great help to us. It also offers a higher payload, increased safety with its Fenestron and its OEI(5) operating capabilities, better transport capacity for our equipment, and many other features. All of these improved features will really make life easier for our pilots.”