INTERPOL has arrested 262 suspects and identified 41 organised criminal groups tied to migrant smuggling and human trafficking during a four-day operation across the Mediterranean and the West African Atlantic route. Operation Communis Maris ran from October 5 to 8. It also flagged 109 potential human trafficking victims, detected 1,715 irregular migrants and triggered 434 new investigations. Of those arrested, 221 face accusations of migrant smuggling. Sixteen are suspected of human trafficking, while 25 were detained over offences including the production and use of fraudulent documents. The operation brought together law enforcement and border management agencies from 16 countries across North and West Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East. It was led by INTERPOL with operational support from Europol, Frontex, AFRIPOL, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. During the four days, 7,660 officers checked more than 378,000 people, monitored identified hotspots, strengthened security checks at key locations and pursued intelligence on suspected criminal networks. Authorities conducted 210,594 searches against INTERPOL police databases. Maritime interdictions included an operation in southern Morocco where officials stopped a vessel carrying 70 people attempting to migrate irregularly, including 30 minors, after six days at sea. Senegalese officials alerted neighbouring authorities, and Mauritanian officers later intercepted the next-day crossing, finding 80 passengers including two children and arresting three alleged organisers. In Tunisia, law enforcement prevented an attempted sea crossing and arrested three people accused of people smuggling after officers seized a boat, a marine engine and related equipment. In Libya, authorities rescued 34 potential trafficking victims and arrested three suspects accused in an organised group involved in trafficking, smuggling and extortion. Algerian security officials arrested six suspects in an investigation into a migrant-smuggling network, with accusations including endangering minors. In Syria, coordinated maritime patrols and surveillance led to a raid on an alleged smuggling facility, with seven arrests and interception of 22 irregular migrants. Beyond the sea, participating countries tightened airport checks, targeting forged travel documents and financial activity linked to smuggling networks. Cyprus and Greece arrested suspects at airports over attempts to use forged travel documents. Morocco arrested a person suspected of supplying fraudulent passports and recruiting people for irregular migration, while French police arrested six individuals suspected of money laundering, facilitating irregular migration and housing a vulnerable or dependent person in conditions incompatible with human dignity. INTERPOL also identified links to social media posts, groups and accounts advertising irregular migration and people-smuggling services, with the intelligence and the 434 new investigations expected to generate further leads and arrests.