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Date Published: 11/01/2022

ARCHIVED - Migrant smuggling and drug trafficking network shut down in Alicante

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Multiple arrests made in Alicante in connection with the smuggling of irregular immigrants between the Spanish coast and North Africa

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Migrant smuggling and drug trafficking network shut down in Alicante

The National Police have arrested 22 suspected members of an Alicante-based criminal network involved in the smuggling of hundreds of migrants between Spain and Algeria.

The maritime routes were also allegedly used to help fugitives escape and to transport drugs and stolen goods from Spain to Oran.

The investigated network was made up of two "perfectly organised" criminal organisations, according to the National Police, which teamed up with Europol to shut down the operation.

But whilst the gangs were based in the province of Alicante, their illegal activities spanned across Spain, mainly in Almeria, as well as France.

In fact, an official police count suggests the network was responsible for trafficking more than 250 people over the course of 54 migratory crossings in recent months.

And those arrested are suspected of providing support to Algerian organisations dedicated to the trafficking of migrants, using the maritime route from Oran, passing through Almeria and returning to Algeria.

According to police sources, they used the Almeria coast as a point of entry and clandestine return, "which enabled the escape to Algeria of immigrants with pending legal cases or fugitives who were already in Europe".

In addition, the group is also accused of alleged trafficking in drugs and stolen goods, "small but high-value items", according to the same sources.

They also allegedly smuggled narcotic substances such as ecstasy and psychotropic drugs into Algeria, where the market value is up to five times higher than in Spain.

At the "top of the pyramid" was the person in charge of organising and coordinating the illegal activities. A second group picked up the migrants upon their arrival by boat and took them to "secure holding flats" in Alicante before they were taken to other Spanish cities or to France.

Meanwhile, a third group was dedicated to "controlling and hiding" the migrants during their temporary stay in Alicante, whilst a fourth group, known as the "money changers", handled the finances.

The costs of the journeys varied depending on the points of origin and destination: Algeria to Almeria cost up to 5,000 euros; Almeria to Alicante, between 200 and 600 euros; and from Alicante to France, between 700 and 1,000 euros.

During a series of raids, 40,000 euros was seized, along with four vehicles, more than three-and-a-half kilos of ecstacy and cocaine, contraband tobacco, and stolen mobile phones, bikes and electric scooters.

Image: Policia Nacional

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