Eight suspected people smugglers have been arrested on the Italian island of Sardinia. They stand accused of having brought dozens of migrants to Italy illegally from the Algerian coast.
Italian authorities announced that on August 6, police dismantled a smuggling ring that had brought an unknown number of migrants from the coast of Algeria to Sardinia.
Infomigrants' partner ANSA said that at least 60 people are believed to have been smuggled into Italy by the group.
The gang is accused of taking people from the eastern coastal town of El Kala in the North African nation on small boats to the southern Italian island, traveling roughly 200 kilometers across the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean on each journey.
According to local authorities, the network was also "responsible for receiving migrants, producing forged documents and providing operational support to its associates."
Most of the migrants smuggled into Italy with the help of the group reportedly were citizens of Algeria and neighboring Tunisia.
According to the AFP news agency, each migrant had to pay up to 2,500 euros for the irregular crossing, with "about a dozen" migrants being moved across the sea with every crossing.
Authorities highlighted that they were aware of at least five such crossings having taken place in recent months.
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International criminal gang with dubious ties
The eight suspects were taken into remand following a series of targeted raids involving roughly 100 law enforcement officers in total.
Among them was the alleged ringleader of the group — an Algerian asylum-seeker residing in Sardinia. According to the Anadolu Agency, the man is "believed to have coordinated the recruitment of migrants and boat operators in Algeria, collected payments for the journeys and organized the crossings."
The suspects — all confirmed to be Algerian nationals — face multiple charges including aiding illegal migration, forging documents and criminal association; unconfirmed reports say that the accused are aged between 25 and 39.
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According to the police investigations conducted prior to the raids, the group had been planning to expand their operations by purchasing faster boats, extending their business into Tunisia, and also by diversifying their illegal business into smuggling narcotics into Italy.
The smugglers are also believed to have kept close ties with individuals in Marseille, France, which is where the chief financier of the criminal group is believed to be in hiding.
The involvement of a specialized anti-mafia unit as part of the police operation could mean that the smuggling ring might belong to a larger network of criminal organizations — though authorities have not confirmed this.
Italy expands fight against irregular migration
Irregular arrivals continue to be a major talking point in Italy, as close to 17,000 people have managed to make their way to the Mediterranean country to date this year; the vast majority of those entries are by small boat.
In 2025, a total of more than 66,000 migrants succeeded with irregular crossings into Italy.
Since last year, Italy has significantly beefed up its border patrols — including interceptions at sea — and is also focusing on disrupting smuggling rings as part of its strategy against irregular immigration.
Though historically, most migrants reaching Italy arrive in other parts of the country (most notably on the small island of Lampedusa), the number of people arriving in Sardinia has also been rising in recent years.
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with AFP and ANSA