A June 16 action day capped a Spanish-led probe launched in 2023, with police arresting 78 suspects and calling the group one of the Mediterranean’s most dangerous transnational networks.
Investigators said the organisation ran two-way sea routes between Algeria and Europe, moving migrants north to Spain and Ibiza while sending synthetic drugs south and trafficking weapons.
At least 64 smuggling trips brought more than 2,000 people into Spain and generated over €24 million, with migrants charged up to €12,000 and packed as many as 50 to a boat.
Seventeen sites in Alicante, Almeria, Cartagena and Murcia were searched; authorities seized 18 high-speed boats and said the network also offered refuelling, storage, maintenance and counter-surveillance to other gangs.
The case surfaced a week after a mass migrant surge into Ceuta renewed attention on migration pressure around Spain’s North African frontier and Western Mediterranean routes.