Spanish-led police raid smashes a vast Mediterranean smuggling network, arresting 78

Key Points:

• An international police operation led by Spanish authorities dismantled a major criminal network involved in trafficking migrants, drugs, and weapons across the Western Mediterranean, with support from Europol and law enforcement agencies from France, Poland, and Portugal.
• The network was described as one of the largest maritime human trafficking organizations in the Mediterranean, responsible for smuggling over 2,000 migrants into Spain and generating profits exceeding 24 million euros.
• Authorities arrested 78 suspects, including four alleged leaders, and seized 18 motorboats, drugs, weapons, satellite phones, and cash during coordinated raids on June 16.
• The criminal group operated a two-way smuggling route between Algeria and Spain, transporting drugs to Algeria and migrants back to Spanish coastal towns using high-speed and unregistered "ghost" boats.
• Investigations revealed the network used violent methods to protect operations and subjected migrants to sexual assaults, physical abuse, and inhumane conditions in makeshift housing.