Breakthrough in the investigations into the management of clandestine routes that connect North Africa and Turkey to the Calabrian coasts. The policemen of the Flying Squad of the Crotone Police Headquarters and the soldiers of the Naval Operational Section of the Financial Police have arrested three alleged smugglers, believed to be responsible for the management of the boats that arrived in the port of the Pythagorean city in recent days, as suspects of the crime.
The operation, coordinated by the Crotone Public Prosecutor’s Office led by Prosecutor Domenico Guarascio, comes at the end of intense and non-stop investigations, started immediately after the two recent landings.
The two landed in a few days
The investigative activities focused on two specific episodes:
1 June 2026: The first landing, which saw the arrival of 29 migrants at the port of Crotone.
June 4, 2026: The second tracing, with the arrival of another 57 migrants.
All non-EU citizens, after having received initial treatment and assistance from healthcare personnel, were transferred by the Police Headquarters staff to the Regional Hub of Isola Capo Rizzuto for the identification and photo-signalling procedures.
Investigations and trafficking routes
The synergistic work between the State Police and the Fiamme Gialle has made it possible to reconstruct not only the complex methods of the open sea crossings, but also the preparatory phases of the journey organized in foreign territory by the criminal networks. The traffickers had planned the transfer of migrants using two very distinct routes: the Libyan route and the Turkish route.
The turning point in the investigations: The dramatic testimonies collected among the refugees were able to frame the three suspects – of Sudanese, Egyptian and Syrian origin. Some of them provided precise details on the roles on board and on who had physically driven the vessels during the days of navigation towards Italy.
Furthermore, a careful forensic analysis of the migrants’ mobile phones corroborated the witnesses’ stories. Inside the devices, investigators found digital elements and clues considered “serious” and consistent with the responsibilities of the three arrested.
The provision
Faced with a solid circumstantial framework, the Judicial Authority ordered the arrest. The three men were escorted and associated at the local prison in Crotone, where they remain at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court.
The investigations, however, do not stop here: the police continue to dig to acquire further elements and identify any accomplices or bases of the trafficking network.