In brief
In a coordinated sting, Spanish and Algerian police seized 18 high‑speed ghost vessels, 15,000 MDMA pills and €25,000 in cash, and arrested 78 suspects tied to a multi‑national trafficking ring. The network moved synthetic drugs, firearms, and migrants on covert voyages across Spain, Portugal, Algeria and southern Spain. Europol warned of the network’s fraud‑laundering tactics and the brutal treatment of migrants. The operation underscores the evolving threat of dual‑flow smuggling in the Mediterranean.
Spanish police have dismantled one of the largest Western Mediterranean smuggling networks, arresting 78 people across Spain and Algeria.
Europol said the network, headquartered in Sicily, specialised in synthetic drugs, firearms, explosives and people smuggling. The group moved MDMA, guns and migrant traffics from Spain and Portugal to Algeria, then used the return route to send migrants and weapons to Ibiza and mainland Spain on small, unregistered 'ghost speedboats' that avoid detection.
In the operation, Spanish police searched 17 locations, including Alicante, Almería, Cartagena and Murcia, and seized 18 high‑speed vessels valued at €5 million, over €25 000 in cash, and 15,000 MDMA pills. The agents also recovered satellite phones, GPS devices and encrypted communication equipment used to coordinate the ring.
Europol emphasized that the smuggling network had evolved into a “dual‑flow” enterprise, profit‑maximising with outbound routes from Spain and Portugal to Algeria. Each trip could contain upwards of 50 migrants, who were often carried in overcrowded, unauthorised boats without life jackets, under dire weather conditions. The group was believed to claim up to €12 000 per person, adding up to an estimated €24 million in migrant‑smuggling revenue alone.
Suspects were predominantly of Algerian origin, with links to criminal groups in France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Poland. The crime also included violent robberies, extortion, illegal detentions and money‑laundering. Europol’s statement warned that the network facilitated the movement of illicit goods across the Western Mediterranean for other organised crime groups.
The announcement follows a week after about 78,000 migrants fled into Ceuta, a Spanish exclave on the Moroccan coast, allegedly triggered by rumours of an open border. Most of those migrants returned to Morocco, but between 3,000 and 5,000 remained, the Ceuta leader said.
