Spanish authorities have successfully dismantled what law enforcement describes as one of the largest criminal smuggling operations in the western Mediterranean region. The coordinated operation resulted in 78 arrests across Spain and Algeria, with Europol confirming the network’s involvement in multiple illicit activities beyond trafficking, including violent robberies, extortion, and money laundering.
The criminal organization operated a sophisticated two-way smuggling system utilizing unregistered high-speed boats known as “ghost speedboats.” Synthetic drugs, particularly MDMA, were transported from Spain and Portugal to Algeria, while the return voyages carried migrants and firearms back to mainland Spain and Ibiza. The network reportedly charged migrants up to €12,000 per person, generating an estimated €24 million from migrant smuggling operations alone, with individual trips transporting over 50 people at a time.
Police conducted searches across 17 Spanish locations and seized substantial assets valued at millions of euros, including 18 high-speed vessels worth €5 million, firearms, explosives, cash, and communication equipment. Investigators revealed that migrants frequently endured dangerous conditions aboard overcrowded vessels lacking safety equipment, often experiencing physical abuse and sexual assault during their journeys in extreme weather.
The suspects were predominantly of Algerian origin with established links to organized crime groups spanning France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Poland. Europol noted the network had evolved into a sophisticated dual-flow enterprise designed to maximize criminal profits by coordinating multiple trafficking routes across the western Mediterranean.
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