Moroccan authorities have so far this year foiled 54,000 bids by illegal migrants to cross to Europe, AFP said Friday, citing a MAP news agency report. It said that Morocco had dismantled 74 “criminal networks” linked to people smuggling and seized 1,900 boats over the same period during a special operation. The North African country is a key route for sub-Saharan Africans trying to reach Europe via Spain. In July, hundreds of migrants forced their way into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by violently storming a heavily fortified border fence with Morocco. Ceuta and Melilla, Spain’s other tiny territory in North Africa, make up the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.