INTERPOL has announced 262 arrests in a four-day international operation targeting migrant smuggling networks across the Mediterranean Sea and the West African Atlantic route. The operation, codenamed Communis Maris, ran from 5 to 8 October 2026, with results announced on 10 November 2026. Of those arrested, 221 are suspected of migrant smuggling, 16 of human trafficking and 25 of other offences, including the production and use of fraudulent documents. Officers also identified 109 potential victims of human trafficking, detected 1,715 irregular migrants and opened 434 new investigations. ## Sixteen countries took part Agencies from 16 countries took part: Algeria, Cyprus, France, The Gambia, Greece, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Senegal, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Türkiye. More than 7,660 officers took part, screening over 378,000 people. The operation was led by INTERPOL with support from Europol, Frontex, AFRIPOL, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and was funded by the European Union through Project Himaya. ## Rescues and arrests at sea and on land Authorities intercepted a boat carrying 70 migrants, 30 of them minors, off southern Morocco. Mauritanian authorities rescued 80 passengers, including two children, after an alert from Senegal. In Tunisia, officers stopped an attempted sea crossing and arrested three suspected smugglers, while Libyan authorities rescued 34 potential trafficking victims and arrested three suspects. Police in Morocco arrested a suspect accused of supplying forged passports, with further arrests in Cyprus, Greece, France, Algeria and Syria. INTERPOL said 41 organised criminal groups involved in migrant smuggling were identified. Its Director of Organized and Emerging Crime, David Caunter, warned that smuggling networks continue to expose vulnerable people to serious danger. INTERPOL said the intelligence gathered, together with the 434 newly opened investigations, could lead to further arrests in the coming months. [INTERPOL](https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Events/News) | [People's Daily](https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/world/er/30053540741)