A total of 73,640 irregular migration attempts were foiled last year, but authorities say the decline in interceptions tells only part of the story as routes increasingly shift towards other departure points in the region.
More than 300 migrant-smuggling networks were dismantled during 2025, suggesting that while fewer people are trying to make the journey through Morocco, traffickers remain active and continue to change their methods.
The official assessment is that the route through the country is gradually losing ground. Migration pressure itself, however, has not followed the same course.
Instead, some of the flows are moving towards West Africa and countries in the southern Mediterranean, with smuggling networks adapting their operations and increasingly pooling services.
The figures come against a regional backdrop in which Morocco remains both a transit point and a departure route for irregular migration.
At sea, 13,595 migrants were rescued during the year. They were provided with medical assistance, accommodation and other support after being brought ashore.
Another 4,372 irregular migrants opted to return to their countries of origin, with the operations organized in coordination with their diplomatic missions.
The authorities cited both figures as part of a policy combining tighter border controls with humanitarian assistance.
Joint operations with Spain
Security ties with Spain have also produced 41 joint counter-terrorism operations since 2014, with 174 people linked to terrorism arrested in the two countries.
Most of those arrests were made across the Strait, with 112 suspects apprehended on Spanish soil.
The cooperation has centered on terrorist networks as well as channels used to recruit would-be jihadists, with Spain repeatedly acknowledging the role played by the DGST in intelligence cooperation.
The figures come as security cooperation between Rabat and Madrid has become one of the more durable parts of the relationship between the two countries.
