FIVE members of a Costa Blanca gang that smuggled in migrants into Spain from via a high-speed boat have been arrested by the Policia Nacional.
Officers intercepted a vessel in July off the Murcia coast following a chase on open water.
Two addresses were later searched with a semi-rigid boat seized on a Muxtamel farm and a weapon plus ammunition at an Alicante home.
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Authorities said that migrants were charged between €6,000 to €10,000 to book a journey.
After they landed in Spain, the boats were filled with drugs before returning to Algeria.
Inquiries started in July after a vessel landed in Murcia.
A few days later, officers saw a boat in the sea which was waiting to be refuelled by another vessel.
The craft used to carry the migrants was a rigid fibre boat around 12 metres long and 1.5 metres wide with two 300 horsepower outboard motors and an estimated retail value of over €160,000 euros.
After being spotted by the police, the crew forced all the migrants- around 24- to jump into the water, at which point they fled at high speed.
The vessel made a sharp turn resulting in a 15-year-old boy suffering serious injuries caused by the propeller.
The migrants were rescued by the police, with many of them not knowing how to swim.
Several suffered burns from the gasoline being used to refuel the vessel.
Eventually, after a chase on the open sea, the Policia Nacional caught up with the boat and arrested four people on a variety of charges.
A judge ordered two of the men to be placed in pre-trial detention.
The fifth arrest came later, of the man who supplied gasoline to the gang at sea.
The land-based police raids turned up a boat in Mutxamel which had a high-power engine.
Officers also impounded a van and trailer which were used to transport it to the coast.
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