People smugglers caught in Palermo
The police identified a dangerous transnational criminal organization specializing in illegal immigration, whose members were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Departments of Palermo, Agrigento, Catania, Milan and Rome, coordinated by the Central Operations Service (SCO).
The police investigation, called "Glauco II", revealed the organizational structure and the modus operandi of the criminal syndicate, composed of Eritrean, Ethiopians, Ivorians, Guineans, and Ghanaians, facilitating illegal immigration.
Among the 14 people arrested also an Ethiopian and an Eritrean who were allegedly masterminding the smuggling operations along the so-called "Libyan route".
The Ethiopian national has been at large since July 2014, following an investigation into the tragic shipwreck of October 3, 2013, off the coast of Lampedusa in which 366 people drowned. He is believed to be the organizer of that migrants' transfer, and therefore culpable for it.
The criminal organization was also involved in facilitating the migrants' stay in Italy and their subsequent relocation to other European countries, namely Norway, Germany, and Sweden.