A Siracusa court on Monday found 20 Somalis guilty of belonging to an international people smuggling ring.
The defendants were also found guilty of procuring false identities and papers for Somalis coming into Italy from Greece, Kenya and Somalia, and then illegally obtaining visas to Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden – in exchange for large sums of money. Another 22 defendants in the same case plea-bargained in November 2013.
The case first broke in late 2012 with 46 arrests in 13 Italian cities and two more in Germany and Britain.