Italy: Police uncover alleged migrant smuggling ring
Source: InfoMigrants: reliable and verified news for migrants – InfoMigrants
Italian authorities have unveiled a transnational criminal organization illegally taking migrants to the coast of Calabria and then to various European countries, investigative sources said on Monday, October 21.
“Clients” were disparagingly referred to as “sheep” or “pigeons” and charged between 10,000 and 15,000 euros to escape war and hunger in their home countries by a transnational criminal organization based in Turkey and Iraq, with affiliates in Italy, France, and Greece, according to investigative sources.
Smugglers organized the crossing of irregular migrants to the coasts of Calabria and then the continuation of their journey to various European destinations.
Read Also
Italy: Police arrest 17 alleged migrant smugglers
13 suspects arrested in ‘Levante’ operation
The so-called ‘Levante’ operation carried out by Crotone finance police and by the special investigative police unit against organized crime SCICO, with the coordination of anti-mafia DDA investigators in the Calabrian city of Catanzaro, led to the arrest of 13 people of Iraqi, Pakistani and Afghan nationality. They are charged with criminal conspiracy aimed at illegally bringing non-EU citizens without residence permits into Europe, money laundering, and illegal commercial activities.
According to investigators, the criminal ring allegedly operated like a “travel agency,” organizing journeys from the Middle East and Asia, particularly from Iraq, Iran, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and Lebanon. The organization, based in Crotone, primarily served residents of the CARA reception center in Isola Capo Rizzuto, investigators said on Monday (October 21).
Those migrants, after travelling by land to Turkey and then reaching Calabria by boat, paying for each part of the journey, were temporarily placed in the area of Crotone, the sources said. They were subsequently sent to Ventimiglia, at the border with France, by bus or train at exorbitant prices. Then at the Italian border city of Ventimiglia, in Liguria, smugglers who worked for the organization helped them cross into France, investigators explained.
Read Also
9 Chinese nationals arrested for smuggling migrants into Italy using luxury cars
‘Determined to dismantle these criminal networks’ – Meloni
The operation was highly profitable. One suspect was overheard in a wiretapped conversation claiming to have earned 65,000 euros in 2024 alone, investigative sources revealed. The money was transferred through the ‘Hawala’ system, an informal network for moving funds that bypasses the need for physical money transfers.
Three money transfer centres had for this purpose been set up at two minimarkets and one phone centre in Ventimiglia, Rome and Milan. All three centres were seized by police as part of the operation.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi praised investigators for their efforts.
“It is an absolute priority to fight those exploiting the legitimate desire of people to find more favourable living conditions to make a profit,” said Meloni, stressing that the “government is determined to dismantle these criminal networks and eradicate the illegal trafficking of human beings.”
Read Also
‘Migrants for sale’: An investigation into the clandestine migrant smuggling economy on the Mediterranean route – Part 1
The original article: InfoMigrants: reliable and verified news for migrants – InfoMigrants .
belongs to