Moroccan Nationals Linked to Criminal Network Laundering €8.6 Million in Cocaine Proceeds in Spain Copy link

Algeria Gate: Amid the silence of the Moroccan authorities, underage Moroccan girls who crossed irregularly into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta with roughly 60,000 other Moroccan migrants in late July have become easy targets. Criminal networks are exploiting their poverty and desperation for sexual exploitation.

Spanish police announced on Tuesday that they had dismantled a criminal network accused of recruiting underage Moroccan migrant girls from care centers in Gran Canaria and moving them to mainland Spain and France, where some were subjected to sexual exploitation.

The Civil Guard said the investigation began after a migrant girl who had been under the care of authorities in Gran Canaria returned from France to Spain and told investigators she had been recruited with the promise of a job.

Algeria Gate: A major investigation by the French newspaper Le Monde has revealed that the exclusive resort of Saint-Tropez in southern France was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s preferred destinations for recruiting and exploiting young women.

The late American financier and convicted sex offender, who died in prison in 2019, used the glamorous French Riviera as a second operational base after his apartment on Avenue Foch in Paris.

Epstein owned the Paris apartment since 2002 and visited Saint-Tropez nearly every summer for almost two decades. According to millions of documents released by the U.S. government, he and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell rented the luxurious Villa Mirage in Saint-Tropez in the summer of 2002 for approximately three weeks at a rate of €100,000 per week.

Email records also show Epstein attending high-profile social events in the area, including supermodel Naomi Campbell’s birthday party in 2004. He repeatedly explored renting or buying multi-million-euro properties along the French Riviera, with some offers reaching hundreds of millions of euros.

Epstein’s Recruitment Network on the French Riviera

Le Monde reports that Epstein’s exclusive parties in Saint-Tropez regularly mixed wealthy socialites, celebrities, and groups of young women. These gatherings took place in private villas, exclusive clubs, and aboard luxury yachts.

A central figure in the French side of the scandal was Jean-Luc Brunel, a well-connected modeling agent and close associate of Epstein. Investigators believed Brunel used his extensive contacts in the fashion industry to recruit young women and facilitate their introduction to Epstein. Brunel was later charged with rape and sexual assault of a minor before dying by suicide in a Paris prison in 2022.

Other intermediaries named in the investigation include French-Swedish modeling agent Daniel Siad, allegedly linked to the leader of the “MAK” terrorist movement and suspected of supplying Epstein with young women of various nationalities. Former fashion recruiter Ramsey El-Khouly also appears in correspondence connecting Epstein to models and aspiring models.

Victim Testimonies Place Saint-Tropez at the Center of Epstein’s Abuse

Several victims have directly linked Saint-Tropez to Epstein’s network of sexual exploitation. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, stated that she was forced by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to have sexual relations with a French businessman during an incident in Saint-Tropez in 2001.

A French artist who met Epstein and Maxwell in Saint-Tropez when she was only 16 or 17 years old in the late 1990s later described being raped by Epstein in New York.

Epstein’s Plans to Settle Permanently in France

The Le Monde investigation further reveals that Epstein was actively planning to relocate to France. In 2019, shortly before his final arrest, he began selling properties in New Mexico and searching for a permanent home on the French Riviera with a budget potentially reaching tens of millions of euros. He was arrested in the United States on July 6th, 2019 after returning from France.

The revelations highlight how the glamorous image of Saint-Tropez and the French Riviera provided cover for one of the most notorious sex-trafficking networks of the modern era.

Algeria Gate: Europe’s naphtha imports surged in July 2026, largely due to increased supplies from Algeria. The rise came as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and disruptions to maritime shipping redirected some trade flows toward the European continent.

Europe’s total naphtha imports rose by 39.2% month-on-month in July, an increase of around 490,000 tonnes compared with June levels, according to data monitored by the specialised energy platform.

Algeria topped the list of naphtha suppliers to Europe last month after its shipments jumped to their highest level in nearly 14 months, while the list of major suppliers also included several Mediterranean countries as well as the United States.

Algeria tops the suppliers list

Europe’s total naphtha imports reached around 1.74 million tonnes in July 2026, compared with nearly 1.25 million tonnes in June.

Algeria took the lead among suppliers with total shipments of around 397,400 tonnes, the highest monthly level of Algerian exports to Europe since May 2025, according to data reported by Argus Media, the energy specialist, citing Vortexa.

This rise reflects a striking shift in the trade routes of Algerian naphtha amid the changes that have affected maritime shipping movements as a result of the military and geopolitical escalation in the Middle East.

Geopolitical tensions redirect shipments

The repercussions of the US-Israeli war on Iran have increased the risks associated with navigation in the region, particularly in the Red Sea, prompting a number of naphtha suppliers to reconsider their shipping routes and target markets.

In this context, Algeria avoided routing naphtha shipments bound for Asia through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait amid escalating security threats and disruptions to maritime navigation.

No Algerian naphtha shipments to Asia passed through the strait in July, compared with around 132,000 tonnes in June.

Nevertheless, Algerian naphtha exports to Asian markets overall rose from around 292,000 tonnes in June to 441,000 tonnes in July, with a longer route via the Cape of Good Hope being adopted to avoid the risks of the Red Sea.

These developments reveal a notable redistribution in the map of Algerian naphtha exports, as the rise in shipping costs and risks along traditional routes has pushed some suppliers to direct a larger share of supplies towards Europe, considered a closer and more logistically suitable market.

Who is competing with Algeria in the European naphtha market?

Algeria was not the sole supplier of naphtha to the European market in July, as several Mediterranean and other international markets featured among the major suppliers.

According to the available data, the main supplying countries were as follows:

– Algeria: 397.4 thousand tonnes  

– Italy: 264.7 thousand tonnes  

– Spain: 212.3 thousand tonnes  

– United States: 160.8 thousand tonnes  

US naphtha shipments to Europe recorded their highest levels in 11 months, since August 2025, providing a further indication of the growing supply flows to the European continent last month.