It was another busy week for Special Branch officers who made three arrests with the help of colleagues in the Borders & Coastguard Agency (BCA).

On Wednesday 19 Feb, a Spanish man, 65, was arrested by Special Branch officers as he tried to exit Gibraltar by climbing over the Frontier Fence.

However, he got stuck on the barbed wire and was spotted by a BCA officer on his way to work. The man was rescued by HM Customs and RGP officers before being arrested. He didn’t have his passport or ID card on him and instead of obtaining a lost report from the RGP, he decided to try and jump the fence. 

On Friday 21 February, Special Branch detectives arrested a man who was refused entry into Spain by for allegedly having a forged French ID card. He was arrested and charged for being a Non-Gibraltarian and Using a False Instrument to Deceive Immigration Officers. This case in ongoing after he pleaded not guilty to these offences.

Finally, on Sunday 24 February, a Moroccan man, with a UK residency permit, flew into Gibraltar International Airport and was refused entry by BCA officers. They believed he wanted to travel into Spain and could provide no proof that he was able to do so. Therefore, as he was not deemed a bona fide tourist to Gibraltar he was refused immigration clearance and informed to re-board the flight back to the UK. Hodaifa Nachid, 29, refused and was arrested by Special Branch detectives for Obstructing an Immigration Officer. Whilst at New Mole House, he was found to have cannabis on him and was further arrested and charged for Possession and Importation of a Controlled Class B Drug. He pleaded guilty to both offences and is no longer in Gibraltar.

A spokesman for the RGP, said: “The majority of people refused entry into Gibraltar are stopped at the Land Frontier, where people who don’t hold the correct documents or visas to enter the jurisdiction are returned to Spain by BCA. So far this year, more than 1,100 persons have been denied entry to the Rock for these reasons. And in the second half of 2024, the number was nearly 4,000.

“However, in some circumstances, persons may hold the correct permit or certificate, but their intentions are not genuine or honest. In these circumstances BCA and Special Branch officers question those individuals to try and establish their true intentions. If they are discovered to not be bona fide tourists or try to mislead or deceive immigration officers they can be refused entry and are returned to where they came from, which could be the UK at the airport, Morocco if arriving via the ferry terminal or back across the Land Frontier. This is especially the case if persons are suspected of trying to use Gibraltar as a gateway into the EU using the airport or ferry service. So far in 2025, 10 persons have been refused for this reason, which includes five Moroccans, two Pakistanis, a Russian, a Yemeni and a Congolese national. 

“In the second half of 2024, there were also 37 refusals of persons believed to want to enter the EU without the correct documentation. Moroccan nationals made up 75 per cent of this figure, with the rest being from China, Syria, Nigeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and The Democratic Republic of Congo.”