http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-italy-smuggler-idUSKCN0YT2TV
Sudan extradites to Italy suspected people smuggler: Palermo court
PALERMO, ITALY | BY WLADIMIR PANTALEONE
Sudan has extradited to Italy an Eritrean national suspected of being a kingpin in an organized-crime network responsible for bringing thousands of migrants and refugees to Europe, the Palermo, Sicily, court said on Wednesday.
Medhanie Yehdego Mered (spelled "Medhane" in court documents), 35, was flown to Italy during the night after his arrest in Khartoum, Sudan, on May 24. He had been sought since last year on accusations of international people smuggling.
It is the first time a suspected kingpin has been tracked down in Africa, where many of the smuggling networks are based, and brought to face justice in Italy since Europe's immigration crisis started almost three years ago.
"Mered is accused of being the advocate and boss of one of the most important criminal groups operating in central Africa and Libya that smuggles people first across the Sahara desert and then the Mediterranean Sea," the court led by prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said in a statement.
Mered is suspected of working with an Ethiopian, Ghermay Ermias, who is still at large. Between them, they allegedly raked in huge sums by bringing migrants from Libya to Italy across the Mediterranean on overcrowded and often unseaworthy boats.
Sicilian prosecutor Calogero Ferrara told Reuters last year that the two controlled an operation that was "much larger, more complex and more structured than originally imagined".
Ferrara said they were opportunistic, purchasing kidnapped migrants from other criminals in Africa. By his calculations, each boat trip of 600 people made the smugglers between $800,000 and $1 million before costs.
The smuggling networks have mostly eluded international law enforcement agencies because they are based on anonymous cells spread across many countries.
Italy has been on the frontline of the immigration crisis. Some 170,000 migrants reached Italy by sea in 2014 and 153,800 in 2015, according to the International Organization for Migration. So far this year, just more than 40,000 migrants have arrived.
More than 8,000 people are also believed to have died in the Mediterranean since the start of 2014, some off the Italian coast and others seeking to reach Greece. Medecins san Frontieres estimated that 900 died last week alone.
(Reporting by Wladimir Pantaleone in Palermo. Additional reporting by Selam Gebrekidan; Writing by Crispian Balmer and Steve Scherer; Editing by David Gregorio)
-------
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36476147
People-smuggling 'kingpin' Mered Medhanie extradited to Italy
8 June 2016
An Eritrean man believed to be at the heart of the operation to smuggle migrants from Africa to Europe has been extradited to Italy, prosecutors say.
Mered Medhanie, known as The General, was held in Sudan in May and was flown to Rome on Tuesday.
Britain's National Crime Agency said he is thought to have arranged the transit of a boat that sank near the Italian island of Lampedusa in October 2013.
At least 359 migrants died when the boat, travelling from Libya, capsized.
Most were from Eritrea and Somalia.
Italian news agency Ansa said Mr Medhanie was accused of being "the leader and organiser of one of the largest criminal groups operating between central Africa and Libya".
The investigation is being led by investigators in Palermo, Sicily.
Mr Medhanie is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
The National Crime Agency said they tracked him down to an address in Khartoum, where he was then arrested.
British investigators had been supporting Italian officials looking into the Lampedusa tragedy.
The NCA said Mr Medhanie, 35, was known as The General, as he styled himself on the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.
The organisation said telephone intercepts acquired by Italian investigators showed Mr Medhanie co-ordinated journeys across the Mediterranean and across Africa to Libya.
In one recording, he is reportedly heard laughing at the deadly overloading of migrant boats.
"Medhanie is a prolific people-smuggler and has absolute disregard for human life," said Tom Dowdall, the deputy director of the NCA.
"Although he was operating thousands of miles away, his criminal activity was impacting the UK. Medhanie no doubt thought he was beyond the reach of European justice but we were able to support the Italians by tracking him down to Sudan."
Italy's Corriere Della Serra newspaper reported that Mr Medhanie boasted of being in league with local officials in Tripoli, Libya, while also having a network of workers in Italy.
He charged migrants up to €5,000 (£3,900; $5,680) to travel from African countries to northern Europe, the newspaper said (in Italian).
Up to 500 people were on the boat when it broke down then sank in early October 2013.
Those who survived said that some of those on board set fire to a piece of material to try to attract the attention of passing ships, only to have the fire spread to the rest of the boat.
In 2014, the year after the Lampedusa tragedy, the number of migrant arrivals to Italy jumped to 170,000, before dropping to 153,800 last year. Close to 40,000 people have arrived in Italy so far this year.
Received on Wed Jun 08 2016 - 02:00:59 EDT