http://www.thelocal.it/20140701/italian-police-arrest-five-over-migrant-shipwreck
Italian police arrest five over migrant shipwreck
Published: 01 Jul 2014 12:58 GMT+02:00
Updated: 01 Jul 2014 12:58 GMT+02:00
Italian police have arrested five people in connection with the migrant
boat shipwreck in October, in which hundreds of people drowned, while
authorities are also searching for someone in Sweden.
A total of nine arrest warrants were issued, with five arrests being made
in Sicily, Milan, Rome and Turin, Il Messaggero reported on Tuesday.
Police are still searching for four other people, one of which is thought
to be in Sweden. Of the remaining three, one is believed to be in Rome and
two in African countries, the newspaper said.
The arrests are the latest in an investigation launched last year, after
366 migrants died when the overcrowded boat they were travelling in sank on
October 3rd.
The latest people sought by the anti-mafia authority (DDA) in Palermo, the
Sicilian capital, are thought to be part of a transnational criminal
organization trafficking people across the Mediterranean, Il Messaggero
said.
Numerous searches have been carried out as part of the investigation, in
which cash and money transfer documents were seized, enabling police to
piece together the workings of the gang.
In addition to planning the journeys and onward travel of migrants, the
gang is also accused of being involved in abuse of migrants. Survivors of
the October shipwreck have testified to rape and torture at the hands of
people smugglers.
A Somali man accused of raping Eritrean migrants appeared in court earlier
this year, while a number of other alleged people smugglers have been
arrested in recent months.
Received on Tue Jul 01 2014 - 11:10:16 EDT