A people-smuggling gang responsible for trafficking migrants across Europe has been dismantled, Italian police said on Wednesday.
They arrested 29 suspected traffickers accused of smuggling migrants from the Middle East and Africa across Italy and into northern Europe.
The four-year investigation provided law enforcement with groundbreaking understanding of how smuggling gangs work together, Catanzaro area chief prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said.
“For the first time, we succeeded in demonstrating all the passages, all the steps of the migrant, depending on the passenger's origin and desired destination,” Mr Gratteri added.
“For example, departing from Syria and going to Oslo, or wherever they wanted to go.”
More than 200 police carried out raids across Italy, including in Milan and Turin, after an international investigation that included co-operation from police in Turkey, Greece, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Britain and Morocco.
Many of the migrants transported by the gang arrived from Turkey or Greece, often on well-outfitted sailboats that elude detection by police or military patrols, police said.
Migrants would pay up to €15,000 ($16,500) each for the sea leg of the voyage, although the going rate appeared to be €10,000.
After landing in southern Italy, either in the Calabria or Puglia regions, passengers would take lorries, trains or taxis to the country’s northern borders and from there would head for destinations across northern Europe.
Key transit points included Ventimiglia, an Italian city near the border with France, and Trieste, in eastern Italy near Slovenia.
From the moment the migrants set foot in Italy, they were in the hands of the gang.
“In effect, a real and true system of illegal welcome, organised both abroad and in various Italian cities, that included food and lodging in the various stops, was created, and to which the migrants entrusted themselves completely,” said Francesco Messina, a top Italian police official.
All that came at an extra price. Migrants were charged up to €600 euros to reach northern cities such as Milan.
In Calabria, Mr Gratteri described the investigation as groundbreaking in terms of understanding how a series of smuggling gangs work together.
He said they had tracked the routes and revenue, and how they profited off their victims’ misery and desperation.
Mr Messina said that besides smuggler cells in Greece and in Turkey, the investigation found seven more operating in Italy.
One cell, based in Trieste, also served as the money-processing hub, investigators said. The smugglers transferred money abroad weekly in sums they hoped would be low enough to avoid triggering suspicion.
Another key point in the operations was Thessaloniki, Greece, from where migrants were moved to Athens and Patras. Others directly set sail for Italy's southern coastline from Izmir, in Turkey, Italian police said.
The smugglers exploited a sea route on the Eastern Mediterranean and used sailboats, which are less likely to be suspected of being migrant vessels than the frequently used overcrowded rubber dinghies or decrepit wooden fishing boats, according to Italian authorities.
Elvis
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ASSASSIN'S%20CREED%20MIRAGE
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Match info
Bournemouth 0
Liverpool 4 (Salah 25', 48', 76', Cook 68' OG)
Man of the match: Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Asia Cup 2018 final
Who: India v Bangladesh
When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium
Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD
Non-oil%20trade
%3Cp%3ENon-oil%20trade%20between%20the%20UAE%20and%20Japan%20grew%20by%2034%20per%20cent%20over%20the%20past%20two%20years%2C%20according%20to%20data%20from%20the%20Federal%20Competitiveness%20and%20Statistics%20Centre.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%2010%20years%2C%20it%20has%20reached%20a%20total%20of%20Dh524.4%20billion.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECars%20topped%20the%20list%20of%20the%20top%20five%20commodities%20re-exported%20to%20Japan%20in%202022%2C%20with%20a%20value%20of%20Dh1.3%20billion.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EJewellery%20and%20ornaments%20amounted%20to%20Dh150%20million%20while%20precious%20metal%20scraps%20amounted%20to%20Dh105%20million.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERaw%20aluminium%20was%20ranked%20first%20among%20the%20top%20five%20commodities%20exported%20to%20Japan.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETop%20of%20the%20list%20of%20commodities%20imported%20from%20Japan%20in%202022%20was%20cars%2C%20with%20a%20value%20of%20Dh20.08%20billion.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
About%20My%20Father
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
