Spain-led operation dismantles Mediterranean migrant and drug smuggling ring
Spanish police and Europol dismantled a major Mediterranean smuggling network, arresting 78 people and seizing boats, drugs, and cash.
Spanish authorities, working with Europol, have dismantled a major criminal network that smuggled migrants, drugs, and weapons across the Western Mediterranean. The operation, announced on Friday, led to 77 arrests in Spain and one in Algeria.
The network operated a two-way smuggling route between Algeria and Spain. According to the Civil Guard, boats transported drugs to North Africa and returned to Spanish coastal towns packed with migrants. Spanish authorities described the group as one of the largest criminal organizations specializing in maritime human trafficking in the Mediterranean.
The coordinated "action day" took place on June 16. During the raids, police seized 18 motorboats, including high-speed vessels, along with drugs, satellite phones, a handgun, and more than €25,000 in cash. Video released by authorities showed officers counting large stacks of 50-euro bills and using sniffer dogs to search properties.
The announcement comes just a week after tens of thousands of migrants surged into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, an event driven by rumors of an open border. Most of those migrants have since returned to Morocco.