Migrants paid up to $500 million in smuggling fees on European sea routes

21 October 2026 Migrants and Refugees

The price tag for smuggling on European sea routes reached up to half a billion dollars last year, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN migration office, IOM, reported on Wednesday.

Key points

Total fees paid to smugglers on sea routes to Europe reached between $388 and $509 million in 2025: UNODC estimates

The busiest smuggling corridor was the Central Mediterranean route, where 84,000 to 100,400 people attempted a crossing

Almost half of migrants trying to get smuggled into Italy or Malta from North Africa or Türkiye reported paying fees of over $7,500 each, an IOM survey found.

Other routes are cheaper than this busy Central Mediterranean corridor.

Smugglers received as little as $170 per person for transport across the Northwest African Atlantic route, a dangerous maritime path where people travel in open boats from the coasts of Northwest Africa to Spain’s Canary…