Italy: Bus drivers in Milan paid to smuggle migrants, seven arrests

Rome: A criminal network was dismantled in northern Italy with seven arrests. The network exploited irregular migrants with a business turnover which remains to be clarified. Approximately 60 persons are under investigation.

It was reportedly known also in Tunisia that Italy had an organized “service” to help irregular migrants going through the hub of Lampugnano, in Milan, and headed to northern Europe. This is according to a minor who was caught in the action that dismantled the criminal network.

The network was dismantled on 21 January with seven arrests and numerous searches in the regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Valle D’Aosta, and Abruzzo, which were conducted by police and coordinated by the Milan Prosecutor’s office.

The inquiry shed light on a phenomenon that has developed around the bus station of Lampugnano, in Milan, a crossroad of migration routes where bus lines depart to go abroad.

The phenomenon has brought public prosecutors Rosario Ferracane and Daniela Bartolucci to contest the charges of aiding and abetting clandestine migration and threats.

Among the 60 persons under investigation, there are some bus companies.

The companies Flixbus and BlaBlaCar whose documentation was received, turned out not to be involved.

According to the reconstruction of facts conducted by the investigators, based on the monitoring activities and controls, in particular at the Frejus, Monte Bianco, and Saint Bernand passes, since September 2022 the criminal organization had set up a system to exploit clandestine migrants for their business advantage.

The base was in the large hub of the western outskirts of Milan, which is the destination of many clandestine foreigners who entered Italy to then reach other European countries such as France and the Netherlands.

Here they were allegedly approached by some foreigners, those enabling the smuggling, who helped them reach the point despite not having documents. They allegedly bought bus tickets in their name online in exchange for between 150 and 250 euros, in some cases reaching nearly 400 euros per person.

Furthermore, they allegedly convinced bus drivers, offering them rewards in exchange, or when they refused, with threats and pressure, sometimes even threatening them of death, not to run thorough controls. Of those who ended up in prison, two out of seven were bus drivers.

A system that involved “impressive” figures of migrant smuggling and a business turnover that remains to be quantified. A total of 20 thousand euros in cash was found on Tuesday in the home of one of the persons who ended up in jail, according to the investigators these represent a very small part of the profits realized by the organization.

As stated by the order issued by the judge for the preliminary investigation, Fabrizio Filice, the service was known to many and had never been stopped. To the point that it was also known on the Tunisian coast, a young boy, who was caught on 15 March 2023 on a bus to Paris recounted.

The youth explained to the police that he learned about the existence of the “clearing house” in Lampugnano already before crossing the Mediterranean and he received confirmation of its existence at the hotspot of Isola Capo Rizzuto, in the province of Crotone, from some fellow nation. The activity of aiding and abetting clandestine migration that was stopped on 21 January was a known fact.

It allegedly took place in broad daylight and was realized without a particular strategy or care to avoid being caught. The situation at the hub was denounced to the competent authorities by Flixbus, as the company shared in a note. The bus company, to safeguard its staff and clients, invested in dedicated personnel.