A Spanish-led international police operation has dismantled one of the largest criminal networks smuggling migrants and drugs across the Western Mediterranean. The operation resulted in 78 arrests and the seizure of 18 high-speed boats valued at over €5 million. Operating a dual-flow model, the network transported synthetic drugs from Spain to Algeria and smuggled over 2,000 migrants on return trips, generating more than €24 million in profits. Migrants faced extremely dangerous conditions, often being tied down in overcrowded vessels.
Spanish-led Mediterranean smuggling operation
- ▪The international operation culminated in an action day on June 16, 2026, resulting in 77 arrests in Spain and one arrest in Algeria.
- ▪An international police operation led by Spanish authorities dismantled a major criminal network involved in trafficking migrants, drugs, and weapons across the Western Mediterranean, resulting in 78 arrests.
- ▪Law enforcement authorities seized 18 high-speed boats valued at over five million euros, which the criminal network used for its maritime smuggling operations.
- ▪During searches across 17 locations in Spain, authorities seized a .38-caliber revolver, a replica machine gun, ammunition, satellite phones, GPS devices, and over 25,000 euros in cash.
- ▪The joint operation was launched in 2023 by Spain's Civil Guard and National Police, with support from Europol and police forces from France, Poland, and Portugal.
Dual-flow trafficking model
- ▪The criminal network utilized prohibited 'ghost speedboats' designed specifically to avoid registration and detection by maritime law enforcement.
- ▪The criminal network provided logistics services to other smuggling gangs, including vessel storage, transportation, refueling, maritime transfers, boat maintenance, and counter-surveillance.
- ▪The criminal network operated a dual-flow model, transporting synthetic drugs like MDMA, firearms, and explosives from Spain and Portugal to Algeria, and smuggling migrants on the return trip to Spain.
Migrant smuggling scale
- ▪Investigators believe the criminal network was responsible for at least 64 migrant-smuggling operations that transported more than 2,000 people to Spain.
- ▪The smuggling network charged individual migrants up to 12,000 euros per person and packed up to 50 people onto a single boat crossing.
Criminal network profits
- ▪The criminal network generated estimated profits exceeding 24 million euros from its illegal migrant-smuggling operations.
- ▪The criminal network managed its illicit funds through informal hawala networks and accounting ledgers to evade financial detection by investigators.
Dangerous crossing conditions
- ▪Spanish police described the sea crossings as extremely dangerous, with migrants traveling crammed together in overcrowded boats at high speeds through rough seas, often without lighting or life jackets.
- ▪Investigators believe suspects in the smuggling network perpetrated sexual assaults, physical abuse, and held migrants in inhuman conditions in makeshift housing.
- ▪Authorities reported that migrants were sometimes tied down to the vessels to prevent them from falling overboard during the high-speed sea crossings.
Ceuta migration crisis context
- ▪While irregular migration to the Canary Islands fell in early 2026, irregular migration along the Western Mediterranean route from Algeria to mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands increased.
- ▪The announcement of the smuggling bust followed a major migrant surge in late July 2026, where tens of thousands of migrants entered the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta.
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