Smuggling ring in Ceuta broken up: crossing cost up to 9000 euros per head
Spanish police arrest five suspected smugglers who transported migrants from Ceuta to mainland Spain for up to 9000 euros per person.
Smuggling ring in Ceuta dismantled: crossing cost up to 9000 euros per head
At night, tightly packed and without life jackets – this is how 20 Minuten describes the conditions under which migrants boarded small boats from Ceuta to make their way to the Spanish mainland. For this dangerous passage, smugglers charged up to 9000 euros per person according to investigative sources – significantly more than had been usual until now.
Spanish police arrested five suspected smugglers over recent days. According to authorities, all suspects are Spanish citizens. They are accused of organised crime and aiding illegal immigration.
One of the men is said to have charged seven migrants 8000 euros each for the crossing on the night of 14 August – in a boat that according to police met no "minimum safety standards". For comparison: the legal minimum wage in Morocco amounted to around 263 Swiss francs per month in 2026. A crossing priced at 8400 francs thus corresponded to more than two and a half years of work at minimum wage.
The migrants spent approximately five hours at sea and covered nearly 40 kilometres in dense fog. The boat operators were specifically selected for their experience with high-speed operations and their ability to evade police checks, police said on Friday.
The investigation was launched following the discovery of a speedboat that had run aground on a rocky reef near El Tarajal a few days earlier. According to authorities' findings, it belonged to an organisation that had been operating between Morocco, Ceuta and mainland Spain for some time.
"Demand has increased, and criminal networks have raised their prices," a police spokesman told Spanish newspaper "El País". Migrants willing to pay the high sums are said to have been housed in buildings and garages controlled by the network until the crossing.
To avoid detection, the boat operators avoided areas with increased police presence – checks had recently been expanded due to the tense migration situation. The boats departed from the coast of Cádiz, picked up the migrants and subsequently brought them to the mainland. There, further network members were waiting to transport those who had arrived onwards.
Source: 20 Minuten