MADRID, Spain.- Spain assumed this Friday the European Union’s mission against illegal immigration in the Mediterranean Sea, which has five boats and six planes.

The Defense Staff, under the Spanish Ministry of Defense, will lead the EUNAVFOR MED Operation SOPHIA for the first time; it was activated on June 22, 2015 to respond to the migratory crisis in waters of southern Italy, off the coast of Libya.

From the Cantabria combat supply ship Spain will exercise until December the command of the naval force, dedicated to fight against the mafias trafficking with immigrants in the central Mediterranean.

The EUNAVFOR MED Operation SOPHIA contributed to the arrest of more than a hundred traffickers, neutralized 440 boats dedicated to trafficking people and saved the lives of some 40000 migrants on that dangerous maritime route.