Seventy-eight people have been arrested in Spain and Algeria after police dismantled a Western Mediterranean smuggling network accused of moving drugs, weapons and migrants between Europe and Algeria.
The investigation was led by Spain and supported by Europol, the latter announced on Friday.
It described the group as one of the largest networks operating on the route and said it was linked to other crimes including violent robberies, extortion, illegal detentions and money laundering.
Officers searched 17 locations in Spain across Alicante, Almería, Cartagena and Murcia.
Police seized 18 high-speed vessels valued at more than €5 million, including 14-metre boats with three or four engines.
A .38-calibre revolver, ammunition and a simulated submachine gun were also recovered.
Investigators also seized more than €25,000 in cash, items linked to suspected money laundering and a “hawala” ledger — records linked to an informal money transfer system that can be difficult for authorities to trace.
Drug seizures included 15,000 MDMA pills, 61kg of hashish and 500g of cocaine.
‘Ghost speedboats’ and sea drop-offs
The network controlled a fleet that included so-called “ghost speedboats” — high-powered vessels designed to avoid registration and detection that are banned in Spain because of their length and engine power, Europol said.
The same boats were allegedly used to carry out drop-offs in international waters near the Spanish coast, with handovers designed to reduce detection while allowing quick transfers of drugs, weapons and migrants to shore.
The suspects were primarily of Algerian origin and had connections to criminal groups in France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Poland, Europol said, adding that the network had ties to organisations referred to as the “Mocro Mafia” and the “Marseille Milieu”.
Routes ran both ways across the Mediterranean, with synthetic drugs such as MDMA, as well as firearms and explosives, moved from Spain and Portugal to Algeria, while migrants were smuggled from Algeria to Spain.
Migrants were charged up to €12,000 each and more than 50 people could be transported in a single trip, with estimated profits from migrant smuggling of more than €24 million.
Europol said migrants were often carried in overcrowded boats without lighting or life jackets, sometimes in extreme weather, and investigators believe suspects committed sexual assaults and physical abuse and kept migrants in inhuman conditions in makeshift housing.
Three of those arrested were classed as “High Value Targets”, Europol said, without providing names.
