ANP Intensifies Security Operations With Mass Arrests Over Illegal Gold Mining, Drug Trafficking And Irregular Migration

ANP Intensifies Security Operations With Mass Arrests Over Illegal Gold Mining, Drug Trafficking And Irregular Migration

BY Dr. Hana Saada

Algeria’s Ministry of National Defence said the People’s National Army (ANP) conducted extensive nationwide security operations between April 29 and May 5, 2026, targeting terrorism, organised crime, narcotics trafficking, illegal gold mining and irregular migration networks, as authorities reinforced territorial security and border-control measures across the country.

According to the ministry’s operational assessment, ANP units arrested 11 individuals linked to terrorist networks, reflecting sustained operational vigilance against evolving security threats.

Counter-narcotics operations produced some of the largest seizures recorded during the reporting period. Security forces arrested 59 individuals involved in drug trafficking activities and confiscated more than five quintals of processed cannabis near Algeria’s western borders, alongside 727,092 psychotropic tablets.

Military detachments also intensified operations against clandestine gold extraction networks operating in southern Algeria, a phenomenon increasingly viewed by authorities as both a security and economic challenge in sensitive border regions. The operations resulted in the arrest of 295 individuals across several wilayas, including Tamanrasset and Djanet, while authorities seized vehicles, generators and extraction equipment used in illegal mining activities.

The ministry added that security services dismantled multiple smuggling operations, leading to the arrest of 13 individuals and the seizure of firearms, including submachine guns and hunting rifles, in addition to large quantities of fuel and food products destined for parallel-market distribution networks.

Maritime surveillance operations remained active throughout the period. Coast guard units thwarted several irregular sea-crossing attempts and rescued 71 individuals at sea, while security services intercepted 276 irregular migrants across different parts of the national territory.

The operational results underscore Algeria’s broader security doctrine centred on territorial control, reinforced border surveillance and the disruption of transnational trafficking networks, particularly across southern and western corridors increasingly exposed to organised criminal activity, illicit extraction economies and migration flows linked to instability across the wider Sahel region.

The latest ANP assessment also highlights the growing strategic priority attached by Algerian authorities to combating illegal gold mining, which has increasingly evolved into a parallel underground economy involving smuggling networks, informal cross-border supply chains and logistical infrastructures operating outside formal state oversight.