In the VICE episode “Europe or Die: People Smuggling in Sicily” sheds light on officials trying to crack down smugglers who bring people into Europe but also those who prey on newly arrived migrants in Sicily who want to avoid the EU’s Dublin regulation.

At boat landings, police try to arrest suspected smugglers by interrogating witnesses and getting feedback from the Coast Guards since they are the first to attempt to identify them. They are then taken to detention center, interrogated, and fingerprinted. A police officer interviewed claimed that they have a large network of police operations who arrest many smugglers, including the “larger fish” which would be the main leaders.

In addition, the video also sheds light on land smuggling practices in Sicily where the trade of people smuggling has boomed. These smugglers are many times former migrants who now take advantage of newly arrived migrants by intimidating them into buying overpriced tickets to Northern Europe. They charge them hundreds of Euros for tickets that are actually only worth a fraction of that. Many of those tickets also lead them to the wrong destination since they cannot read the tickets.

There are however, activists who help migrants, free of charge, to obtain tickets at fair prices and to the correct destination. These activists help them by informing migrants, helping find a place to spend the night, and deflect smugglers who try to intimidate them.

The land smuggling practices did not surprise me since I’ve seen many cases like this before. Many migrants are taken advantage due to language barriers and misinformation. I have met migrants who seek legal help to obtain citizenship only to be ripped off thousands of dollars by fake lawyers. Extortions are also very common where they get calls claiming that their family members will be killed if they don’t transfer money to bank accounts. Smugglers in the Mexican border often end up killing, selling, raping women, or forcing migrants to join their groups.