Italy Arrests 38 In Refugee Trafficking
MEP: Authorities in Italy detained 38 people tangled in smuggling migrants into Europe, as part of a crackdown on human trafficking, officials said Monday.
According to investigators, the traffickers had financial hubs in Rome.
Italian security officials said that the detainees were working as a criminal ring which has smuggled thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers from conflict zones across the Middle East and Africa into the European soil.
The officials added that they have seized 526,000 euros and 25,000 dollars in cash from a Rome business along with a ledger containing the names of foreign citizens and references to payments.
“It was the place where the money of migrants who wanted to reach Italy was collected,” Palermo Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said, adding that the ring had two hubs — one in the Sicilian city and the other in Rome.
Migrants arrived in Italy by boat and made false claims of family reunification, police said.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a new report that 48,761 people have so far stepped on Italian shores in 2016, and that the average daily arrivals have also increased from 176 in January to 643 in May.
