Spanish-led police raid smashes a vast Mediterranean smuggling network, arresting 78

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- An international police operation led by Spanish authorities dismantled a major criminal network involved in trafficking migrants, drugs and weapons across the Western Mediterranean, the European Union police agency Europol and Spain's Civil Guard announced Friday.The takedown of the group underscored the highly professional and highly lucrative nature of migrant and drug smuggling operations in the narrow sea that separates Europe from North Africa. Spanish authorities described the network as one of the “largest criminal organizations specializing in maritime human trafficking in the Mediterranean.”The announcement came a week after irregular migration to Spain was thrust into the international spotlight when tens of thousands of migrants stormed into the Spanish North African territory of Ceuta in a surge blamed on rampant online rumors about an open border. Most of the migrants have since returned to Morocco. Europol said the network it helped to dismantle “arranged storage, transport, refueling, maritime transfers, vessel maintenance, and counter-surveillance services” for other smuggling gangs.The agency headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, suppo...