Spain says it dismantles one of Mediterranean's largest human smuggling networks

MADRID, Aug 7 - Spanish police have dismantled what they described as one of the largest people-smuggling networks operating in the Mediterranean, believed to have brought more than 2,000 migrants into the country, authorities said on Friday.

"The Civil Guard and National Police ... successfully dismantled one of the most complex, active and dangerous transnational criminal networks detected to date in the Mediterranean," Spain's Civil Guard said.

The operation comes as migration and human trafficking have returned to the forefront in Spain and across Europe after a mass border rush on the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week saw 72,000 people enter the city.

According to the statement, the network used high-speed boats to transport synthetic drugs from Spain to Algeria for distribution across North Africa, where demand for drugs such as MDMA is high.

On the return journey, it smuggled migrants to Spain's southeastern coast and the island of Ibiza.

Police believe the group - which used extreme violence to protect its vessels - carried out at least 64 smuggling operations and generated profits of €24 million ($27 million).

Although the number of irregular migrants reaching Spain by sea fell 31% in January-July, this was largely due to a 60% drop in arrivals to the Canary Islands, Interior Ministry data showed.

By contrast, irregular migration to mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands rose 22% and 10%, respectively, over the same period as smugglers shifted routes via Algeria.

During the investigation, conducted with Europol and police in France, Portugal and Poland, authorities seized 18 high-speed vessels and arrested 77 people in Spain and one in Algeria.

The network charged up to €12,000 per migrant and transported as many as 50 people on a single crossing, according to the statement.

The sea crossings were extremely dangerous, the Civil Guard said, with migrants travelling in overcrowded boats at high speed and often in rough seas, without lights, and, in most cases, life jackets.

"Sometimes the occupants were even tied down to prevent them from falling overboard during the crossing," the police said, adding that the organisation perpetrated extraordinary levels of violence against its own members and the migrants, as well as against police forces. REUTERS