Immigration: Spain dismantles large people-smuggling ring in the Mediterranean region
A group of smugglers is said to have smuggled synthetic drugs to Algeria and migrants to Spain. According to the police, the smuggling ring made a profit of around €24 million.
The Spanish police say they have dismantled one of the largest human trafficking rings in the Mediterranean region. The organization is said to have brought more than 2,000 migrants into the country, authorities said on Friday. Investigators from the Guardia Civil described the network as one of the "most complex, active and dangerous" criminal organizations to have been detected in the region so far.
As part of the operation, 77 people were arrested in Spain and one person in Algeria. In addition, 18 speedboats were seized.
According to the authorities, the network used speedboats to transport synthetic drugs from Spain to Algeria. On the return journey, it smuggled migrants to the southeastern coast of Spain and to the island of Ibiza. The gang made a profit of €24 million with at least 64 trips. For each migrant, it demanded up to €12,000. The investigations were also carried out with the help of Europol and the police in France, Portugal, and Poland.
The Spanish police further stated that the crossings were extremely dangerous. The migrants were on overcrowded boats at high speed and often in heavy weather, without lights and in most cases without life jackets. In some cases, the passengers were tied up so that they would not go overboard during the crossing.
Spain has recently noticed a shift in migration routes: while the arrivals on the Canary Islands decreased, the number of people arriving via Algeria on the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands increased recently.
Translated by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report; automated translation may contain errors. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
