Europol-backed crackdown dismantles major Western Mediterranean smuggling network, with 78 arrests and €5M in high-speed vessels seized in a drug, migrant and weapons trafficking operation

A Europol-supported operation led to 78 arrests in Spain against a network operating between Europe and Algeria and linked to criminal groups in France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Poland. Authorities seized cash and assets linked to money laundering, including a hawala ledger, alongside drugs, weapons and 18 high-speed vessels; Europol supported both the organised-crime and financial investigations…