Head of drug and migrant network released on bail

The Provincial Court has agreed to let a man who the National Police say is the head of an Algerian network that was responsible for drug and migrant trafficking between […]

January 5, 2026 2 Mins Read

The Provincial Court has agreed to let a man who the National Police say is the head of an Algerian network that was responsible for drug and migrant trafficking between Alicante and Algeria last April go free on bail of 15,000 euros.

A Torrevieja court overseeing the case had kept the suspect in jail for about eight months before the trial. He was let go not long ago when the Provincial Court agreed with his defence counsel Aitor Prieto Razquin’s appeal, saying “The lack of direct evidence against the suspect and the length of time he had already been detained.” The accused must pay €15,000 in bail and go to court every two weeks. They are not allowed to leave the country.

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The individual who was just released was one of the nine people who were detained last April in Torrevieja, Novelda, Elche, and Alicante as part of an investigation by the Tax Agency’s Customs Surveillance and the Alicante Police’s Group III of the Unit against Immigration Networks and Document Falsification (UCRIF).

The arrests were made to break up a group that used speedboats to move cocaine and synthetic substances from Alicante to Algeria and then used the return voyage to transfer migrants to the peninsula, charging each one between 6,000 and 10,000 euros.

Four-hour trip

The bail order says that the accused is thought to be the leader of a group that got and utilised speedboats, or “taxi boats,” to make round journeys between Alicante and Algeria. The trip by sea took about four hours, and the return destination may be other provinces like Murcia, Almería, or the Balearic Islands, as well as Alicante.

These groups use excursions from Alicante to Algeria to smuggle synthetic narcotics and cocaine into Algeria.

Also, Algerians who were wanted by the Security Forces or the courts often used this outbound voyage to leave the country without going through the border crossings.

People who paid between 6,000 and 10,000 euros to be smuggled into the nation on the way back. The investigation found that they carried more than 20 persons on each voyage and sometimes even smuggled hashish, which they unloaded in coves in the province of Alicante.