Migrant Trafficking Ring Busted: Spanish Police Uncover €2.5 Million Smuggling Operation in Gibraltar Strait

Moroccan migrants paid up to 14,600 euros for a package that included the journey and stay on Spanish or European territory. According to the Spanish police, the criminal organization would have made more than 2.5 million euros in profits by helping nearly 200 migrants enter Spain illegally.

The migrants embark from Fnideq, a Moroccan town near Ceuta, in overcrowded boats carrying both passengers and drugs, mainly hashish. Once in the Spanish autonomous city, they were kept in rooms until the full amount of the trip was paid, then transferred to Algeciras as soon as the weather conditions were favorable.

The operation led to the arrest of eight people, including two leaders and a minor, as well as the seizure of 22 kilos of hashish, 10,800 clonazepam tablets used to manufacture karkoubi, also called the "drug of the poor", 47,000 euros in cash, two boats, five vehicles, various jewelry, gasoline bottles and several bladed weapons.