Catania, the State Police proceeds to arrest four traffickers for the crime of aggravated aiding and abetting illegal immigration

Catania State Police Staff, coordinated by the Catania District Attorney's Office, proceeded to arrest four smugglers of Sudanese origin, aged 21, 22 and two in their thirties, on suspicion of crime for the crime of aggravated aiding and abetting illegal immigration.

The facts date back to the afternoon of last November 20th when, in the port area of ​​Catania, the NGO vessel “Aita Mari”, flying the Spanish flag, docked with 53 migrants of various nationalities on board, rescued in international waters during a SAR rescue event dating back to the early hours of the morning of 19 November.

At the Port of Catania, assigned as the landing site, once the preliminary reception operations were completed, the migrants were transferred to the facility on Via Forcile where the investigation activity already started on the dock continued, and from the very early stages, by the police officers of the Flying Squad - Foreign Crime and Prostitution Section.

The activity of the Judicial Police allowed to shed light on some aspects linked above all to the sea crossing, learning how the modest-sized dinghy on which the migrants were travelling had left the Libyan coast days before and then, after long hours of navigation, was forced to stop due to a breakdown, before receiving help.

Meanwhile, the listening operations of foreigners conducted at the former vaccination hub, as well as the further investigations developed by the investigators of the Flying Squad on the information gradually acquired, allowed them to immediately focus their attention on four migrants of Sudanese origin, respectively aged 21, 22 and two thirty-year-olds, who were part of the same event.

The investigative action in fact allowed to outline the role of the four Sudanese who, joining the remaining group of migrants only in the phases immediately preceding the departure at sea, would have assumed command of the vessel in various capacities, collaborating with each other in different tasks.

The results of the personal searches carried out on them would also support the circumstantial evidence, since some electronic devices attributable to the role they allegedly played on the vessel during the long sea crossing were found in their possession.

In light of the investigative evidence and the serious, precise and consistent criminal evidence collected against the four Sudanese, having assessed the concrete and present danger that they could evade their responsibilities and flee, thus making themselves untraceable, they were placed under arrest on suspicion of crime in relation to the hypothesis of the crime of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, aggravated by having involved the illegal entry into the State of more than five people, by having endangered the life and safety of those transported, and aggravated by having been committed by more than three people.

The four individuals arrested were placed at the disposal of the Deputy Prosecutor on duty at the local District Attorney's Office, who arranged for them to be transferred to the Catania "Piazza Lanza" prison pending validation by the GIP.

In the following hours, the arrest warrant adopted was validated by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations at the Court of Catania, who applied the precautionary measure of prison custody to the four foreigners.