Hundreds of irregular migrants were detained throughout the country during the operation, while an estimated 40 migrants were found in a tanker truck that had been modified to carry people.

European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas praised Italy's migration efforts in an interview with ANSA in Rome, where he met Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni on July 13.

A four-year-old boy from sub-Saharan Africa died in a shipwreck off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa last week.

Two British men have been sentenced for smuggling seven Indian migrants to the UK in the boots of two different cars.