Spain’s police announced on Friday the dismantling of a smuggling network responsible for facilitating the entry of a thousand illegal migrants from Algeria and Syria into Spain’s shores and arrested 21 suspects, according to a police statement.
For their services, the conveyors allegedly received a fee of up to 2,000 euros from each migrant. It is estimated that “they gained approximately 1.5 million euros from their illicit activities.”
A police report indicates that the network was behind the illicit entry of over 750 Syrian migrants and more than 250 Algerian migrants into Spain via speedboats from Algeria.
The security operation conducted in cooperation with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), resulted in the apprehension of 21 individuals, whose identities have not been disclosed. The arrests occurred in the Madrid region, Andalusia (the point of arrival for the boats), and the Basque Country (located near the French border).
The network had a branch in the Algerian port city of Oran, tasked with overseeing the departure of migrants on overcrowded boats that lacked basic safety equipment.
Upon arrival, the migrants were temporarily accommodated in apartments lacking basic hygiene. Subsequently, the network facilitated their transfer to other European countries.