Italian authorities have arrested three Egyptian nationals accused of facilitating and encouraging illegal immigration from Libya to Italy, according to security sources in the Ragusa province of southeastern Sicily.
The arrests were carried out by the Ragusa Police and the Italian Financial Police following a coordinated operation targeting migrant smuggling networks operating between North Africa and southern Europe.
Authorities said that on Monday, a vessel carrying 72 Bangladeshi migrants arrived at the port of Pozzallo after being rescued by a coast guard patrol boat. The ship had run aground near the island of Correnti, off the coast of Portopalo di Capo Passero, in the same province.
Investigators from the Mobile Operations Unit of the Police and the Maritime Operations Division of the Financial Police reconstructed the stages of the vessel’s journey from Libya. Through interviews and evidence collection, they identified the three Egyptian suspects as the alleged smugglers responsible for organizing and steering the journey across the Mediterranean.
The operation marks the latest in a series of Italian crackdowns on migrant trafficking routes from Libya, where thousands of migrants and refugees continue to embark on dangerous sea crossings toward Europe each year. Italian authorities have repeatedly warned that organized crime groups are exploiting instability in Libya to coordinate human smuggling operations to Sicilian shores.
According to Italy’s Interior Ministry, more than 150,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea over the past year, with Libya and Tunisia remaining the main departure points.
