Spain-led raids dismantle Mediterranean smuggling network, 78 arrested

Spanish police, Europol and law enforcement from France, Portugal and Poland have dismantled what Spain’s Civil Guard calls one of the largest trans-Mediterranean smuggling networks ever uncovered, arresting 78 suspects and seizing 18 high-speed boats on June 16.

The operation began in 2023 under Spain’s Civil Guard and National Police and culminated in coordinated raids across Alicante, Almería, Cartagena and Murcia. Officials described the group as a “logistics company” for organised crime, running two-way routes between Algeria and Spain’s southeastern coast and Ibiza. Alongside migrants, the network allegedly moved synthetic drugs south and weapons north, while charging up to €12,000 per person and cramming up to 50 migrants onto overcrowded boats without life jackets or lighting.

Investigators say the network carried out at least 64 migrant-smuggling trips, bringing more than 2,000 people into Spain and netting over €24 million in profits. Authorities allege extreme violence: migrants were sometimes tied down to prevent falling overboard, and the group used brutal tactics against its own members and police. Of the 78 arrested, 77 were taken in Spain and one in Algeria; three high-value targets were among those detained. Europol said the gang also provided services to other criminal organisations—boat storage, refuelling, maintenance and counter-surveillance—while laundering money through informal hawala networks to hide its profits.

The announcement comes just a week after a sudden surge of migrants into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta focused global attention on the region’s migration pressures. Authorities warn that smuggling networks continue to exploit dangerous sea routes, often through rough conditions with little regard for human life. The dismantling of this network is being hailed as a major blow to transnational organised crime in the Western Mediterranean, though officials acknowledge that similar groups are likely still operating and adapting to enforcement pressure.