Paris:  Following a joint investigation with the French and Spanish authorities, Niger has detained a Libyan who is suspected of smuggling thousands of migrants through the Sahel region toward Europe, according to French police on Friday.

According to Jean-Christophe Hilaire of the French Interior Ministry's International Security Cooperation Directorate, the 29-year-old told investigators he had oversaw the departure of "60 migrants per week for seven years" after being apprehended on Dec. 20 in the Nigerien city of Agadez.

He claimed that for a fee of €1,500 to €2,000 ($1,600 to $2,100), pick-up trucks had driven the migrants, the majority of whom were from Nigeria or Cameroon, to the border with Algeria or war-torn Libya.

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According to Hilaire, the suspect is now being detained in Niamey, the nation's capital. Three French and three Spanish police officers assisted in the EU-funded operation.

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In an effort to cross the Mediterranean Sea to a better life in Europe, many West African migrants attempt to travel to Libya.

They frequently throng to Agadez in Niger, where traffickers offer to take them to the Libyan border. The Niamey government passed a law in 2015 making the illegal transportation of migrants a crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

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However, a security source in Niger claimed that the action had only encouraged smugglers to take "new, more hazardous routes." Since 2017, Niger has been home to European police officers. Since then, according to the French Interior Ministry, 824 people have been detained.