BISSAU: Guinea-Bissau’s National Guard has intercepted 168 would-be migrants aiming to flee their home countries via the Atlantic Ocean over the last three days, AFP learned Monday.

Dangerous sea routes along northwestern Africa have for years been used by thousands of Africans trying to reach Europe via the Canary Islands, which lie off the continent’s coast.

On Monday morning, 25 young people were intercepted in a house on the northern outskirts of the capital Bissau, an official from the country’s National Guard military branch told AFP.

The group, comprised of 10 Malians, 10 Senegalese people, three Guineans and two Bissau-Guineans, were to be transported to an island in the Bijagos Archipelago, which would serve as a staging point ahead of departure for the Canary Islands, the source said.

On Saturday, officials intercepted another group of would-be migrants — 141 Senegalese nationals and two Gambians — at the Bandim fishing wharf in Bissau.

A rickety boat known as a pirogue carrying the 143 people was intercepted there, the National Guard official said.

According to the official, pressure on illegal migration networks in Senegal is increasingly driving organizers to seek out less-monitored departure points, notably in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, further south.

In recent months, hundreds of people, mostly from Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea and Mali, have been rescued off the coast of west Africa from at-risk vessels.

Over the past few years, thousands of migrants have died at sea or gone missing while attempting to reach Europe.

Guinea-Bissau, situated between Senegal and Guinea, has experienced five coups and a series of attempted coups since 1974.

The country’s crushing poverty and political chaos make it fertile ground for corruption and drug trafficking.