Italian authorities arrested two suspected migrant smugglers from Algeria. They were caught navigating a boat with 30 migrants on board. The suspects were reportedly arrested after an incriminating video-selfie of the pair emerged.
Two Algerians aged 25 and 27 have been arrested by police in the Sicilian city of Ragusa for allegedly smuggling 30 migrants aboard a dinghy that was intercepted by the Italian coast guard on November 8 and taken to Lampedusa.
Investigators arrested the pair after they saw a video-selfie taken by one of the migrants aboard the boat – a Moroccan man – who had filmed the two men sailing the boat during the journey.
Investigation ongoing
A Moroccan woman has also been arrested by Ragusa police for re-entering the country illegally after she had been deported from Italy. Investigators said the woman had a police record and had previously been sent back to Morocco after trying to enter the country illegally in 2017.
Police are also investigating the arrival of 58 additional people in a separate case, where an Egyptian national in Lampedusa is suspected of smuggling the migrants into Italy.
Migrant arrivals continue
Meanwhile, despite the government's attempt to curb arrivals by sea, migrants continue to land on Italy's coasts. On Saturday, November 10, 90 Tunisians, including 12 women and five minors, reached the port of Pozzallo in Sicily, aboard a Portuguese Navy patrol boat.
They are now housed at the Sicilian city's hotspot arrival facility after being transferred overnight from Lampedusa.