Italy’s government on Tuesday announced the dismantling of a criminal network aimed at favoring illegal migration in the country, after completing an investigation stemming from the terrorist attack on the Berlin Christmas market in December 2016.
This was stated by the Interior Ministry in a statement, in which it detailed that three Tunisian nationals have been arrested and charged with transnational criminal conspiracy for their efforts to aid and abet illegal migration.
«Today’s operation, conducted by the State Police with the coordination of the Anti-Mafia Directorate of the District of Ancona (city in eastern Italy, belonging to the Marche region), testifies to the great investigative capacity of our law enforcement agencies in complex operational scenarios,» reads the portfolio’s missive.
The Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, has related that the investigation has arisen following the activities carried out after the terrorist attack on the Christmas market in Berlin in December 2016, which led to the execution of precautionary measures against three Tunisian citizens in Ancona.
«The important activity of the State Police, thanks to which it has been possible to dismantle a dangerous criminal network that favored the illegal entry of foreigners in Italy, has allowed us to discover that among them there were also subjects linked to jihadist circuits,» continued the head of the Viminale.
According to Piantedosi, «all this confirms, once again», how «uncontrolled» immigration can also give rise to «serious risks linked to international terrorist threats». Thus, he stressed the importance of acting to govern and regulate migratory flows.
In addition to the arrests, 44 searches were carried out against 18 suspects of various crimes and 26 other people, related to the criminal organization and residing in the provinces of Ancona, Fermo, Ferrara, Catanzaro, Modena, Macerata, Syracuse and Verona, as detailed by the Police itself in another statement.
The Italian government, led by the far-right Giorgia Meloni, has placed special emphasis on migration control, underlining the alleged lack of European solidarity and suspicions about the activities of NGOs, which the authorities continue to accuse of encouraging migration by deploying rescue boats in the central Mediterranean area.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
