Spanish authorities have arrested at least 78 people and seized 18 high-speed boats worth more than five million euros in a crackdown on one of the Mediterranean's largest migrant and narcotics smuggling networks.
The Algerian-origin organization ferried MDMA from Spain to North Africa and returned with migrants, charging up to 12,000 euros per person across at least 64 crossings, generating profits exceeding 24 million euros. The operation by the National Police and Civil Guard, with Europol support, netted 15,000 MDMA pills, 61 kilograms of hashish, cocaine, methamphetamine, a .38 revolver, a replica submachine gun, and roughly 26,675 euros in cash during 17 property searches in Alicante, Almería, Cartagena, and Murcia. Twenty-seven suspects were placed in pre-trial detention.
Among those arrested were four top leaders and the network's hawalader. The ring, investigated since 2023, had ties to the Dutch mocro maffia and Marseille's criminal milieu.