Spanish police, with support from Europol, arrested 78 individuals in Spain and Algeria on Friday, August 7th, 2026, dismantling one of the largest criminal networks operating in the western Mediterranean. The group was involved in smuggling synthetic drugs, migrants, and weapons, and linked to other crimes such as violent robberies, extortion, illegal detentions, and money laundering.

The network trafficked synthetic drugs, including 15,000 MDMA pills, firearms, and explosives from Spain and Portugal to Algeria. On the return journey, they smuggled migrants and weapons to the Spanish mainland and Ibiza using "ghost speedboats." Authorities seized 18 high-speed vessels valued at €5 million (£4.2 million), guns, and over €25,000 (£21,400) in cash during the operation, which involved searches at 17 locations across Spain, including Alicante, Almería, Cartagena, and Murcia.

Europol described the group as having "evolved from drug trafficking into a duel-flow criminal enterprise designed to maximise profits". Migrants were smuggled along routine routes from Algeria to Spain, with charges up to €12,000 (£10,200) per person. In some trips, over 50 migrants were transported, with estimated profits from migrant smuggling alone exceeding €24 million (£20 million).

The group organised transfers in international waters near the Spanish coastline, according to Europol. This bust follows a recent surge in migration, where approximately 78,000 migrants fled into the Spanish North African territory of Ceuta amid online rumours of an open border. While most migrants returned to Morocco, between 3,000 and 5,000 remain in Ceuta, the exclave's leader Juan Jesús Vivas said.

Sources