Spanish Police Arrest 78 in Biggest Western Mediterranean Smuggling Bust
One of the largest criminal networks smuggling drugs and people in the western Mediterranean has been dismantled, authorities have said.
Europol said 78 people were arrested in Spain and Algeria as part of a bust targeting a network linked to violent robberies, extortion, illegal detentions and money laundering.
The group moved synthetic drugs from Spain and Portugal to Algeria, then used the return trips to smuggle migrants and weapons onto the Spanish mainland and the island of Ibiza in “ghost speedboats.”
Some of the items seized included 18 high‑speed vessels valued at €5m (£4.2m), guns, more than €25,000 (£21,400) in cash and 15,000 MDMA pills.
The sting, led by Spanish police, involved searches in 17 locations in Spain, including Alicante, Almería, Cartagena and Murcia.
Europol noted that the network had “evolved from drug trafficking into a dual‑flow criminal enterprise designed to maximise profits” with outbound routes from Spain and Portugal to Algeria.
The smuggling focused on synthetic drugs (such as MDMA), firearms and explosives, while migrants were smuggled at €12,000 (£10,200) per person on routine routes from Algeria to Spain.
In a single trip, the group could move over 50 migrants, earning an estimated €24m (£20m) in profits from migrant smuggling alone.
The network also provided services to other organised crime groups, “facilitating the movement of illicit goods and people across the Western Mediterranean.”
The suspects were primarily of Algerian origin and had links to criminal groups in France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Poland.
Other objects seized included satellite phones, GPS devices, encrypted communication tools and satellite dishes. The announcement comes a week after roughly 78,000 migrants fled into the Spanish North African territory of Ceuta, sparked by online rumours about an open border.
Most of the migrants returned to Morocco but 3,000‑5,000 remain in the territory, the exclave’s leader reported.
