{"id":3973,"date":"2024-12-12T10:46:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T10:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/?p=3973"},"modified":"2024-12-12T10:50:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T10:50:11","slug":"abu-sultans-enterprise-the-smuggling-ring-behind-the-pylos-shipwreck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/abu-sultans-enterprise-the-smuggling-ring-behind-the-pylos-shipwreck\/","title":{"rendered":"Abu Sultan\u2019s Enterprise: The Smuggling Ring Behind the Pylos Shipwreck"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The second part of the joint investigation by Solomon, ARIJ, El Pa\u00eds, TAZ, and The New Humanitarian provides, in unprecedented detail, an account of the structure and operation of the north African smuggling ring behind the Pylos shipwreck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*First Published on WeAreSolomon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexandria, Egypt <\/strong>\u2013 On July 14, 2023, exactly one month after the deadly Pylos shipwreck, Egyptian authorities closed in on a luxury villa in Al-Agami, a seaside resort bustling with tourists. Inside, they found Mohammed S., a man with connections that reached deep into one of North Africa\u2019s largest human smuggling networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When they arrested him, Mohammed S. was found with 330,000 Egyptian pounds (about \u20ac6,300), \u20ac1,000 in cash, and contracts for two apartments purchased just days after the shipwreck. Among his possessions was a notebook listing 146 names, each paired with the figure 140,000 Egyptian pounds (\u20ac2,600)\u2014the price migrants paid to reach Italy. As Abu Sultan\u2019s right-hand man, Mohammed S. was a key figure in one of North Africa\u2019s most extensive migrant smuggling rings. His arrest offered a rare glimpse into a network that has eluded European authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A collaborative investigation is now shedding new light on this shadowy enterprise. Working with El Pa\u00eds<\/em> (Spain), Die Tageszeitung (Germany), the Arab Investigative Journalism Network (ARIJ), and The New Humanitarian, Solomon obtained more than 700 pages of confidential documents. These records, sourced from the Egyptian Public Prosecution and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior, offer an unprecedented glimpse into one operation behind the deadliest shipwreck in Mediterranean history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nine Egyptian survivors of the Pylos shipwreck, known as the \u201cPylos 9,\u201d had been accused in Greece of smuggling the migrants aboard the fishing boat and causing the deadly event. Yet, as the first part of our joint investigation revealed<\/a>, these men were not members of the smuggling ring that organized the journey\u2014and Greek authorities knew this but kept them imprisoned for a year.

While thousands<\/a> of refugees and migrants across Europe are sentenced to years in prison on smuggling charges, the documents we examined reveal the multi-layered and transnational structures of modern smuggling networks\u2014whose leaders and profiteers often evade justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abu Sultan\u2019s Ring<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The real identity of Abu Sultan, the enigmatic figure at the helm of one of North Africa\u2019s largest smuggling rings, remained a mystery to the public\u2014until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first of a two-part series, Solomon, ARIJ, El Pa\u00eds<\/em>, TAZ, and The New Humanitarian revealed<\/a> that Abu Sultan\u2019s real name, according to Egyptian authorities, is Mohammed Saad al-Geheshi. A 36-year-old of Libyan origin, he has been at the center of a sprawling network that has smuggled migrants from North Africa to Europe since at least 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Facebook, Abu Sultan used a boat as his profile picture\u2014a nod to his trade. Operating out of Tobruk, in northeastern Libya, he built a reputation so notorious that rival smugglers began using his alias to conduct their own deals. To distinguish himself, al-Geheshi reportedly began marketing himself as \u201cthe real Abu Sultan,\u201d according to a report<\/a> by omniaTV in collaboration with Egypt\u2019s Mada Masr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal documents obtained by Solomon describe Abu Sultan as the founder of the organized group, responsible for its overall management and the delegation of tasks to its members. His network relied on a cluster structure: each member had a specific role, operating independently to reduce the risk of exposing the higher-ranking figures. Lower-ranking operatives rarely, if ever, interacted with senior leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hierarchy of Roles<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The organization\u2019s structure was meticulously organized, with roles ranging from logistics to payment collection. According to the Egyptian investigation, members of the ring held clearly defined responsibilities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Abu Sultan\u2019s Inner Circle: A small circle of trusted associates carried out his orders and acted as liaisons between him and the broader network.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Intermediaries: Other operatives served as intermediaries, establishing contacts, recruiting and communicating with migrants and their families, collecting payments, and arranging transportation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Desert Guides: A small group specialized in navigating desert passages near Sallum to smuggle migrants from Egypt into Libya.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Harboring and Transporting Migrants: Several members were tasked with warehousing migrants in Libya and coordinating their movement across borders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    In total, the Egyptian investigation identified 36 suspects within Abu Sultan\u2019s network. Their backgrounds were as varied as their roles: among them were an egg seller, a driver, a lawyer, and a chicken farm owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Abu Sultan\u2019s smuggling ring used social media to recruit migrants seeking passage to Europe. One Facebook page, named \u201cMohammed Abu Sultan for Travel to Italy\u201d in Arabic, openly advertised their services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    WhatsApp also played a key role in communication. In an audio message retrieved by Egyptian authorities and included in documents seen by Solomon, a ring member instructed: \u201cGet your money ready and only communicate via the internet. I will send a representative to collect the money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The smuggling network also leveraged seemingly legitimate businesses to facilitate their operations. One of their partners was an Egyptian company officially registered as a recruitment and travel agency, ostensibly placing workers in jobs abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    According to the Egyptian investigation, at least one of the company\u2019s employees worked directly for the ring as a driver. His role involved transporting migrants to key locations: Borg El Arab Airport in Alexandria or the border town of Sallum, where the next leg of their journey would begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    A photo obtained during the investigation shows one of the Egyptian survivors of the Pylos shipwreck, later accused of smuggling fellow passengers, standing outside the recruitment and travel agency\u2019s storefront. According to the survivor\u2019s family, the picture was taken on the day they visited the store to pay for his passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    From Sallum, other members of the smuggling network picked up migrants and transported them through desert routes into Libya, marking the next stage of their journey to Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Arriving in Tobruk<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Among the evidence uncovered by Egyptian authorities was a photograph found on a defendant\u2019s mobile phone. It showed a smuggler standing in the desert, holding a gun, with the words \u201cWith the greetings of Mohammed Abu Sultan\u201d written across the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The journey to Tobruk, Libya\u2014a mere 2.5-hour drive from Sallum, Egypt\u2014marked a critical transition point in the smuggling route. Upon reaching Tobruk, migrants were picked up by other ring members and placed in various locations before their voyage. According to testimonies, Abu Sultan owned four expansive olive groves in Libya, which appear to have served as cover or staging grounds for his operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A memo from the Egyptian Ministry of Interior revealed the harsh conditions many migrants faced in Tobruk. Large groups of people, crammed into warehouses, were held for weeks\u2014detained until full payments were made to the smugglers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Financial Web<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The investigation also shed light on the sophisticated financial mechanisms underpinning the smuggling network. Payments from migrants were frequently processed through Vodafone Cash, a mobile payment application. Screenshots of transaction records were discovered on the mobile phones of smugglers, though many had attempted to delete these images to obscure their activities. Forensic investigators were ultimately able to recover this evidence, providing crucial insight into the ring\u2019s financial flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Smokescreen of Legitimacy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Abu Sultan\u2019s network was adept at laundering its proceeds through ostensibly legitimate businesses. These included a jewelry store, a grocery shop, and a currency exchange outlet, all reportedly linked to Abu Sultan. Money was also funneled into purchasing new fishing boats, despite their often unsafe and precarious condition. One defendant admitted during testimony that the ring systematically acquired cheap, dangerous vessels for their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The smuggling profits also fueled investments in real estate. Following the Pylos shipwreck, Abu Sultan contacted Mohammed S. with explicit instructions: he would transfer one million Egyptian pounds and needed Mohammed S. to purchase two apartments in his name. The properties, located in the Al-Agami resort outside Alexandria, were intended to deflect attention away from the true source of the funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These two property contracts were subsequently identified by Egyptian authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Jeweler<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Rashid, Egypt.<\/strong> On July 5, 2023, Egyptian authorities arrested M. Ma., a jeweler in the Nile Delta city of Rashid, and his 17-year-old employee, F. M. The city, home to 60,000 residents, became a focal point in the investigation into Abu Sultan\u2019s smuggling ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    During interrogation, F.M. admitted that his boss had instructed him to take half a million Egyptian pounds from the jewelry store\u2019s cash register and deliver it to an unknown individual. He revealed that this was not the first time he had been asked to transfer money on behalf of M. Ma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Egyptian authorities\u2019 investigation suggested that M. Ma.\u2019s jewelry store was one of several businesses used to launder money from the smuggling operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The 500,000 was traced to Hassan B., another figure linked to the smuggling network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Metoubes, Egypt. <\/strong>Two days earlier, authorities issued an arrest warrant for Hassan B. and two other suspects. While Hassan B. was apprehended, the other two managed to evade capture. At the home of one fugitive, authorities discovered a box labeled \u201cFresca,\u201d inside which they found over two million Egyptian pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In his testimony, Hassan B. denied involvement in the smuggling activities. He claimed that his brother-in-law, a fisherman working on boats in Libya, occasionally asked him to collect money and deliver it to his sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, evidence recovered from Hassan B.\u2019s phone painted a starkly different picture. Forensic investigators uncovered deleted photographs of people aboard the sunken vessel, audio messages related to the trip, contact information for other smugglers, and records of money transfers from passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Hub for Boats<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Our investigation reveals that the ring used Egyptian fishermen as intermediaries to secure usually dilapidated fishing boats for the smuggling of migrants. The organization often purchased boats from the Egyptian city of Rashid because of the specific specifications of the boats built there, such as the number of cabins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The ill-fated fishing vessel that sank near Pylos had also been purchased in Rashid. According to a source who spoke to reporters participating in this investigation, the boat, initially named Al-Mutawakkil (Arabic for \u201cthe person who always relies on God\u201d), was transported to Libya in late May 2023. Before it was repurposed for the smuggling operation, it had carried a smaller group of migrants from Rashid and Metoubes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Search for the Captain<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The investigation into the suspects\u2019 phones revealed an unexpected detail. Shortly after the Pylos shipwreck, Hassan B. joined a Facebook group titled \u201cMigration from Libya to Italy.\u201d His activity in the group focused on a specific individual: a 20-year-old passenger whose family was desperately searching for him in the aftermath of the tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hassan B. captured a screenshot of a post made by the young man\u2019s brother, who had written an emotional appeal to find his sibling among the survivors or the missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Testimonies obtained during the investigation suggest a chilling link between the smuggler\u2019s search and the ill-fated vessel. The name, picture, and province of the 20-year-old passenger align with those of the fishing boat\u2019s captain\u2014the migrant who had been steering the vessel before it capsized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Through the joint efforts of Solomon, ARIJ, El Pa\u00eds<\/em>, TAZ, and The New Humanitarian, reporters obtained a photograph of the captain, who perished in the sinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Actual Smugglers: Justice Served? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Shibin al-Koum, Egypt.<\/strong> Seven months after the Pylos shipwreck, on February 5, 2024, the case against the 36 suspects was heard in Egyptian court. Of the 36 defendants, 23 were present\u2014those whom authorities had successfully apprehended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The remaining 11, including the elusive Abu Sultan, were tried in absentia. They were sentenced to life imprisonment and fined 5 million Egyptian pounds (approximately \u20ac94,000 each).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Of the 23 present, 16 were convicted and received five-year prison sentences, along with fines of 1 million Egyptian pounds (\u20ac19,000 each). Nine defendants were acquitted due to insufficient evidence at the first instance, though three were later convicted on appeal for participation in the criminal organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To this day, Abu Sultan, the apparent mastermind behind the smuggling ring, remains at large.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The second part of the joint investigation by Solomon, ARIJ, El Pa\u00eds, TAZ, and The New Humanitarian provides, in unprecedented detail, an account of the structure and operation of the north African smuggling ring behind the Pylos shipwreck. *First Published on WeAreSolomon Alexandria, Egypt \u2013 On July 14, 2023, exactly one month after the deadly Pylos shipwreck, Egyptian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-3973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investigations","category-latest-news-el","tag-english"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/12\/\u039d\u03b1\u03c5\u03ac\u03b3\u03b9\u03bf-\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2-\u03a0\u03cd\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5-\u03a0\u03ce\u03c2-\u03b4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b5\u03c8\u03b5-\u03c4\u03bf-\u03ba\u03cd\u03ba\u03bb\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1-\u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03ba\u03af\u03bd\u03b7\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2-1024x576-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3973"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3979,"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973\/revisions\/3979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/captainsupport.net\/freepylos9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}