Italian police have dismantled a migrant smuggling network, arresting 15 Egyptians involved in using sailboats for dangerous illegal sea crossings from Turkey to Greece and Italy.
The network facilitated the illegal entry of at least 3,000 migrants into Italy since 2021, earning over $30 million by charging each migrant $10,000.
Arrests were made simultaneously in multiple countries, including Albania, Germany, Turkey and Oman, with the cooperation of local police and coordination from Italian anti-mafia prosecutors in Sicily, relying on Interpol and Europol.
The smuggling operation was led by an Egyptian based in Istanbul, who recruited professional skippers, mostly Egyptian, and provided logistical support in Turkey while migrants waited to leave.
The migrants were then transported on 12-15 meter sailboats with no life-saving equipment, a journey that could take up to a week.
Tens of thousands of migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean in recent years, with the sea route from Turkey to Italy being particularly notorious since February 2023, when at least 94 people died off Cutro in southern Italy.
