• A suspected migrant trafficking kingpin was apprehended in Ethiopia after two years on the run and has been extradited to face prosecution in Italy.
• Temesghen Ghebru Ghebremedhin, 35, is “considered a major member of a massive multinational organization geared to smuggling migrants from North Africa to Europe”.
• He was on Interpol’s “red notice” fugitives list when he was apprehended on his way to Australia.

A suspected migrant trafficking kingpin was apprehended in Ethiopia after two years on the run and has been extradited to face prosecution in Italy, according to Italian justice ministry officials.

According to Reuters, Temesghen Ghebru Ghebremedhin, 35, is “considered a major member of a massive multinational organization geared to smuggling migrants from North Africa to Europe.”

The Eritrean suspect was apprehended at Addis Ababa airport and charged with international organized crime membership and abetting illegal migration.

According to the reports, judges in Palermo, Sicily, issued an arrest order for him and several other alleged human traffickers in 2020.

Ghebremedhin was on Interpol’s “red notice” fugitives list when he was apprehended on his way to Australia, where other members of his suspected criminal network are active, according to the sources.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have arrived on Italian shores in the last decade, usually after paying smugglers thousands of dollars to risk their lives on unsafe vessels.

Several investigations have been undertaken by Italian authorities into the lucrative Mediterranean migrant trafficking business, but obtaining arrests or convictions have been difficult.

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