Officers from the National Police and the Guardia Civil have dismantled one of the most complex and dangerous transnational criminal networks detected to date in the Mediterranean. The operation, conducted in collaboration with EUROPOL as well as police forces from France, Portugal, and Poland, targeted a major gang dedicated to human smuggling and drug trafficking.
The criminal organisation used high-speed boats to smuggle illegal drugs from Spain to Algeria. On the return journeys, the vessels were used to transport irregular migrants to the coasts of Almería, Murcia, Cartagena, Alicante, and Ibiza. Investigators have linked the group to at least 64 separate migratory incidents involving more than 2,000 migrants, generating illegal profits exceeding 24 million euro.
During the operation, which involved more than 180 officers, authorities arrested a total of 78 people, including 77 in Spain and one in Algeria. Courts have ordered 27 of the suspects into provisional custody. Among those detained are four key leaders considered high-value targets by authorities, alongside the financial manager responsible for the economic infrastructure.
Police also seized 18 high-speed vessels valued at more than five million euro. Officers noted that members of the network used extremely violent methods to protect their boats and cargo and to violently resist law enforcement actions.
The police investigation began in 2023, exposing an established transnational syndicate considered the largest Algerian-origin structure specialising in human trafficking via high-speed boats. The network maintained sub-structures across Andalusia, the Region of Murcia, the Valencian Community, and the Balearic Islands, with additional operational links in France, Portugal, Italy, and Poland.
The entire operation was overseen by a top leader who financed and planned activities, supplied weapons and synthetic drugs such as MDMA to North African markets, and directed operations across three distinct hierarchical tiers.
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