Police officers from the mobile brigades of Palermo and Trapani and the Investigation sections of the Central Operations Service of the Italian State Police have arrested this month 10 individuals, including Italian and Tunisian nationals, accused of criminal conspiracy to aid and abet illegal immigration. They were part of a criminal organisation with cells in both Tunisia and Italy that ran a migrant smuggling operation between the North African country and the Italian coast.
According to Polizia di Stato sources, these trips, defined as ‘VIP’ by some witnesses, were controlled during the investigation with tracking systems and were carried out through a fast transport service in boats equipped with large engines and with a maximum load of 20 persons.
Transport was carried out against payment of sums of money ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 euros. In particular, the investigation revealed the role played by the Marsala cell, made up of Italians and Tunisians who provided logistical support, identifying and organising the boats for the transport of illegal immigrants and “recruiting” the traffickers, generally Tunisians resident in Italy.
In the Marsala cell, according to the investigation, there was also a Tunisian, an applicant for international protection, suspected of being one of the main promoters of the criminal organisation, as well as a former corrupt member of the Tunisian police. This individual was in charge of maintaining links with the leader of the cell active in Tunisia, who was also the subject of the same restrictive order and who recruited the immigrants by deciding the conditions and price of transport from the coasts of northern Tunisia to those of Sicily.
In the course of the investigations, eight smugglers, all Tunisian nationals, were arrested in flagrante delicto during four separate landings off the coast of Marsala; four persons were also investigated for resisting the Italian authorities’ vessels by attempting to escape despite the intervention of Guardia di Finanza (Customs and Excise) vessels, which had come to intercept the boats. On that occasion, the traffickers had allegedly ordered the military vessel to be fired at with flares. A total of four inflatable boats were also seized during the arrests.
The operation is part of a wider international investigation carried out with the launch of a Task Force (TF) called “Mediterranean” on the criminal phenomenon of aiding and abetting illegal immigration along maritime routes. This activity fostered information exchange and operational support with Europol, some European countries and investigative offices. In this context – and to facilitate any further exchange of information – guest officers from Europol and the Tunisian Police are present at the Trapani Police Headquarters. During the operational phases, several searches were carried out in which the Special Units of the State Police were also involved.
