The Algerian authorities say they have dismantled an international network they suspect smuggled people through Algeria to Europe. Migrants from Syria and Lebanon paid 'exorbitant' sums for their journeys, according to investigators.
The Algerian organized crime agency arrested nine Syrians and six Algerians suspected of belonging to a smuggling network on Wednesday (March 22), reported news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).
Migrants from Syria and Lebanon smuggled through Libya
The arrests came following five months of investigation. The Algerian police said they uncovered a network accused of transporting migrants from countries like Syria and Lebanon, through Benghazi airport in Libya.
According to police investigations, the suspected smugglers would then take migrants via the Libyan town of Ghadames to the border town of Debdeb. From there, migrants were taken towards the western Algerian town of Oran, where they were then prepared for a sea crossing towards Europe.
Local Algerian news website Ennaharonline reported that migrants were expected to pay "exorbitant" sums for the journey. Police say they seized cash, about $11,000 (€10,115) and about €9,000, as well as currency in Lebanese and Syrian pounds during the arrests.
The nine arrested suspects, reported the French newspaper Le Monde, were taken for an initial hearing on Wednesday.
Setting off from Algeria
In 2022, according to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR figures, only about 2% of arrivals in Italy set off from Algerian shores. However, some travel from Algeria towards Spain.
During that same year, about 8,900 Syrian nationals reached Italy by sea. Three out of four of them (77%) that year crossed from Libya. Some (11%) departed directly from Lebanon, 8% from Turkey and 3% directly from Syria. Even fewer set off from Algeria, Cyprus and Tunisia.
In the week March 13-19, 182 migrants reached Italy after setting off from Algeria. Algeria is one of the countries with whom the Italian authorities have held talks recently to try and limit the number of departures from its shores across the Central Mediterranean route.
With AFP