THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — 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, supported and helped to coordinate the operation that Spanish authorities launched in 2023 involving Spain’s Civil Guard and National Police, as well as French, Polish and Portuguese law enforcement and Europol.
The arrests came as a result of an “action day” on June 16, Europol said, that led to 77 arrests in Spain and one in Algeria and the seizure of 18 motorboats, including high-speed vessels, drugs, satellite phones, a handgun and more than 25,000 euros ($29,000) in cash.
Video released by Spanish authorities showed police arresting suspects and counting large stacks of 50 euro bills found during their searches.
The network had a two-way smuggling route between Algeria and Spain, transporting drugs to the African nation and cramming boats with migrants for the return trip to Spanish coastal towns, Spain’s Civil Guard said.
“They are considered responsible for at least 64 migration operations through which they allegedly smuggled more than 2,000 migrants into Spain, obtaining profits exceeding 24 million euros,” the Civil Guard said in a statement.
Four of the network's alleged leaders were among those arrested, the Civil Guard said.
“They used extremely violent methods to protect the vessels and resist law enforcement,” the Civil Guard added.
The network operated a fleet of boats including “ghost speedboats, vessels designed to avoid registration and detection, which are prohibited in Spain,” Europol said.
Investigators believe suspects involved in the migrant smuggling “perpetrated sexual assaults, physical abuse, and placed migrants in inhuman conditions in makeshift housing,” the agency said.
Migrants who crossed from Morocco into Spain line up for food distribution on a beach in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
FILE- The Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
NONTHABURI, Thailand (AP) — A student opened fire at a high school outside Bangkok on Friday, killing at least five people and wounding more than 20, according to authorities, who said he also appeared to have killed his two grandparents at the family home earlier in the morning.
The 14-year-old shooter took his own life at the school, officials said.
Five school staff members, including teachers and administrators, died in the shooting around 10 a.m. at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of Bangkok, Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said at the scene.
The boy also killed his grandparents at the home he shared with them prior to the school shooting, Polapee said.
Bangyai Hospital, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the school, said 23 people were wounded, of whom 10 were in critical condition, with most suffering gunshot wounds. Earlier reports gave conflicting casualty numbers.
A witness said students hid inside a classroom while they heard gunshots from another building before police officers knocked on the door and cleared a way for them to leave the building.
Amporn Niamfuang, who owns a restaurant 50 meters (160 feet) from the school, said there was the sound of a single gunshot and then a pause.
“And then there were multiple continuous shots,” Amporn said, recalling the narrow road outside the restaurant filling with fleeing students. “Students were running scared and pouring onto the street. Young girls were holding each other’s hands and crying. I went inside to hide.”
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, speaking after touring the school, confirmed reports that the shooter was 14 and had killed himself. He said the student had shown signs of stress connected to school.
The gun, described by police as small and compact, was legally registered to his grandfather, he said.
About an hour after the shooting, people stood outside comforting one another as police and first responders walked around the co-educational state school, which has an enrollment of about 3,000 students ranging from 12 to 18 years old.
All classes will be suspended between Aug. 10 and Aug. 14 and school staff have been instructed to work from home during that time, the school said.
After the shooting, police went to his home and found both grandparents dead of apparent gunshot wounds, regional police Commander Wattana Yeejeen said.
The student appeared to have shot them before attending school as normal. He waited until classes started and began shooting inside his classroom before walking out and firing more shots, Police spokesperson Trairong Piwpan said.
The boy fired more than 20 shots and police found he still had 30 rounds after shooting himself, he said.
Several family members, including his uncle and sisters of the grandfather who were at the family home while police investigated, said he usually kept to himself and was a good student.
The family members said they were unaware of any troubles he faced at home or school.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Asia, second only to Pakistan and far surpassing its Southeast Asian neighbors.
Data collected in 2017 by the groups Small Arms Survey and GunPolicy.org in their last extensive international study found civilian gun ownership in Thailand was about 15.1 guns per 100 people, compared with less than one per 100 in neighboring Malaysia.
Thailand had 3.49 deaths by firearms per 100,000 people, according to 2023 statistics published by World Population Review. That puts it well behind parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, but relatively high in Asia. Only the Philippines is higher in Southeast Asia.
In February, a 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand, briefly taking people hostage in a two-hour attack that killed one person and injured two others.
A 14-year-old boy was accused of a 2023 shooting at a major Bangkok shopping mall.
Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok and Kaweewit Kaewjinda in Nonthaburi, Thailand, contributed to this report.
A parent leaves after picking his child after a shooting at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
First responders and others stand inside after a shooting at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A schoolgirl cries outside her school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A crowd gathers outside a school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A schoolgirl cries outside her school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
