Italian authorities dismantled an international criminal organization responsible for smuggling migrants from Turkey to Italy.
The operation resulted in the arrest on Tuesday of 15 individuals, all Egyptian nationals, across several Italian provinces — Cosenza, Catania, and Catanzaro — as well as in Albania, Germany, Oman, and Turkey.
The investigation, led by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Catania, was carried out with the collaboration of the Central Operational Service (SCO), the Syracuse Flying Squad, Europol, Eurojust, the International Police Cooperation Service, and Interpol’s “Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants” unit.
The migrant traffickers are understood to have organized sea crossings for migrants from the Turkish cities of Izmir, Bodrum, and Marmaris. Migrants were transported via sailboats along predetermined routes, eventually landing on the southern coasts of Italy, including Calabria and Sicily.
The alleged leader of the gang, an Egyptian national named Assad Ali Gomaa Khodit, was arrested in Turkey during the coordinated operation.
Authorities have not ruled out a possible connection to what has been dubbed the Cutro massacre, in which 94 people died off the coast of the Italian village when a wooden fishing boat carrying illegal migrants was found shipwrecked after bad weather.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi praised the outcome, stating, “This is great work, carried out with rigor and professionalism, against an international criminal group that organized and managed the smuggling of migrants. It is a significant result, the fruit of an in-depth investigation and full cooperation between police forces and judicial authorities, both in Italy and abroad.”
“Those who organize these journeys do so for profit, with no regard for human life. Combating these networks is not only necessary — it is a moral duty. Restoring and strengthening the exclusive use of legal channels for entry into Italy and Europe is essential to ensure dignified conditions for those who arrive and to lay solid foundations for safe and orderly coexistence in our communities,” Piantedosi added.
Agenzia Nova reported how trafficked migrants had been ordered to pay around $10,000 for the perilous journey, with the criminal organization suspected of being responsible for several dozen illegal crossings since 2021, importing thousands of migrants into the European Union.