Spain Busts Major Mediterranean Migrant Smuggling Ring
Authorities said the group ran at least 64 operations, moved more than 2,000 migrants and made over 24 million euros in profits.
- Spanish police dismantled one of the largest migrant smuggling networks on Friday, arresting 78 people and seizing 18 high-speed boats valued at more than five million euros.
- The group ran at least 64 operations, transporting more than 2,000 migrants and generating over 24 million euros in profits while trafficking synthetic drugs between Spain and Algeria.
- Police described sea crossings as "extremely dangerous," with migrants "crammed together, at high speed, in rough seas." Passengers were sometimes tied up to prevent falling into the water.
- Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, collaborated with police in France, Portugal, and Poland to support the operation across the Mediterranean region.
- While arrivals to the Canary Islands have fallen in recent months, irregular migration along the western Mediterranean route from Algeria to Spain has increased significantly.
63 Articles
63 Articles
Tens of thousands of people storming the exclave Ceuta recently put Spain in the focus of European migration policy. Now the country reports a blow against tugs. They brought people in speedboats to Europe for years.
The Civil Guard, the National Police and Europol arrest 77 people in Spain and 1 in Algeria, who used "very violent" methods to protect themselves, whom they consider responsible for at least 64 migratory episodes through which they would have introduced more than 2,000 migrants in our country, obtaining benefits over 24 million euros Coup to trafficking in Castellón: the Civil Guard frees 80 migrants in "semi-slavery conditions" A joint operati…
Police dismantle major Mediterranean trafficking network, Europol says
An international police operation led by Spanish authorities dismantled a major criminal network involved in trafficking migrants, drugs and weapons across the Western Mediterranean, the European Union police agency Europol and Spain's Civil Guard announced Friday.
They are said to have smuggled drugs and illegally brought hundreds of people to Europe. Now Spain's police have smashed the smuggler ring and made its lucrative business model public.
Europol-Backed Raids Cripple Sea Pipeline
Spanish and European officers say they broke up a sea-based smuggling ring that ran migrants, drugs, and weapons across the Western Mediterranean. Story Highlights Spanish-led raids, backed by Europol, targeted a speedboat network on March 22–23, 2026. Officials described a logistics-style operation moving migrants and contraband between Spain and North Africa. Spanish media later reported...
78 people have been arrested in a Spanish-led police operation against a sophisticated criminal network. The organization is said to be one of the largest in the Western Mediterranean and is suspected of being responsible for both arms trafficking and abuses against migrants.
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