Spain uncovers migrant smuggling network with its own mini-fleet
Photo: Spanish police (facebook/PoliciaNacional)
Spanish police have announced the dismantling of one of the largest criminal networks involved in the illegal trafficking of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea. During the operation, law enforcement officers arrested 78 individuals, seized 18 high-speed boats, and uncovered a scheme that could have generated more than €24 million in profit for the organizers, according to Euronews.
According to the investigation, the group was involved not only in illegal migration but also in transporting synthetic drugs between Spain and Algeria. Law enforcement described the network's activities as particularly dangerous due to the conditions under which people were transported.
Investigators estimate that the network organized at least 64 migrant smuggling operations. In total, more than 2,000 people may have been illegally brought into Spain, generating over €24 million in criminal proceeds.
Investigators determined that the boats were used in a dual scheme. Initially, they were used to transport synthetic drugs, including ecstasy, from Spain to Algeria, and on the return trips, they would bring migrants to Spain's Mediterranean coast and the island of Ibiza.
Police noted that the migrant crossings were conducted under extremely hazardous conditions. People were transported in overcrowded boats at high speed across rough seas.
In some cases, up to 50 people were packed onto a single vessel. The cost of smuggling one person reached as high as €12,000.
Spanish law enforcement stressed that the activities of such networks pose a threat not only to migration security but also to the lives of the people they transport.
Context
Spain has sharply tightened anti-migration measures amid the migrant crisis in Ceuta, where some 60,000 people breached the enclave in a single day.
Against the backdrop of the sharp escalation, a number of European leaders have called for the temporary suspension of Spain's participation in the Schengen Area.
RBC-Ukraine also reported that EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner assured that no further movement of migrants into EU countries would take place.
