Europol said the gang used speedboats and leisure boats to smuggle migrants into Europe (Image: Europol)
Twenty-four people have been arrested in a crackdown on a gang smuggling migrants into Europe on speedboats. The individuals were allegedly part of a network operating across the Western Mediterranean that also facilitated logistics for other groups in the region, according to Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency.
Europol said the network was “dismantled” last month following a Spanish-led investigation supported by its officers and France. The agency said the gang had an “extensive reach and international structure” which enabled it to take part in “various criminal activities”. It said this included drug and arms trafficking, as well as “putting migrants’ lives at risk in dangerous smuggling operations by sea”.
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Europol said speedboats and leisure boats were seized during raids (Image: Europol)
The smuggling gang was mainly based in the Almería area of south-east Spain, but was connected to other criminal groups operating elsewhere in the country and in France.
The wider criminal network controlled industrial buildings, vehicles, boat repair services and refuelling systems, Europol said on Tuesday.
The main migrant smuggling route was reportedly from Algeria to Spain using speedboats and leisure boats.
Europol said 24 people were arrested by authorities (Image: Europol)
It is said the migrants were primarily taken to the Spanish coasts of Almería, Murcia, and the Balearic Islands.
Europol said the boats were stored in Spain, with high-powered engines supplied by members of the network in France.
Migrants were typically brought to the continent by sea, before being smuggled by land into France and then onto other countries in western Europe, it added.
The 24 suspects arrested were Spanish and Moroccan nationals.
This included an individual described as a “key facilitator” who was considered a “High Value Target”.
Fourteen houses in Spain were searched in the sting over March 22 and 23.
Europol said speedboats, semi-rigid inflatable and recreational boats and lorry and boat trailers were among the items seized.
A signal jammer, airguns, shotguns and more than €80,000 (about £69,500) in cash were also confiscated.
The investigation was part of a new Europol taskforce set up between Spain and France to target migrant smuggling networks in the Western Mediterranean.
Europol did not mention whether the suspects had been charged.
The UN migration agency, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), last week said nearly 1,000 migrants have died while trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2026.
