Arrests in alleged Cuban migrant ring

Officials in Spain say the police have arrested 29 people allegedly linked to the smuggling of Cubans into the United States.



Spanish police say an official from a non-government organization was among those arrested.



They say the official is known to have traveled frequently to Nicaragua, where he had set up a number of fake companies funded through money laundering.



The Cubans concerned went first to Nicaragua on the pretext of working there, then on to Spain, where they were given false passports to go to Mexico and the US.



The ringleaders reportedly hacked credit card data to steal more than US $530,000,000 from customers at restaurants and bars around Spain.