ROME – The man extradited from Sudan to Italy on charges of heading an organised network of human trafficking to the Sicilian coast, according to testimonies of friends of Medhane, is "not the person whom they are searching for", police officials report. It is alleged that the young man arrested is in fact innocent, a 28 year-old Eritrean called Mered Tesfamariam, who after a confusion over his identity, was charged in the name of Medhane.

A friend of the man arrested, vouched for his innocence, saying that he did not believe it possible that Tesfamariam could be in any way involved in the highly dangerous and illicit organisation, having grown up with him from childhood. The friend, Hermon Berhe describes Tesfamariam as "a good person" and another Eritrean testified his "good nature", having shared a house with the convicted man in Sudan.

A Swedish journalist of Eritrean origin, who last year conducted an interview with Mered Tesfamariam, endorsed the accused's innocence in the Swedish daily paper, Aftonbladet, verifying that the young man in the photo was not him, but "a refugee that had been found at Khartoum" with the same name.

These revelations give an interesting slant to the news of the allegedly "successful" extradition to Italy of the people smuggling boss Mered Yehdego Medhane, whose name has for years been on Interpol's list of the most dangerous criminals worldwide, has been arrested on charges of extensive human traffickingand extradited to Italy, police officials report.

The 35 year old of Eritrean origin has long been the target of the Palermo police given his unremitting organisation of a trafficking network responsible for bringing people to the Sicilian cost by sea.

The coordination of this illicit activity, which he personally carried out had direct links with the human traffickers responsible for the African organisation “rotta terrestre” and also with trafficking organisations in Europe, in particular from the Netherlands and Scandinavia, police sources have said.

The Palermo authorities have given testimony to the criminal’s notoriety, the enormous profits that he accrues as a result of this illicit activity and to the atrocious living conditions of his trafficking victims.

Medhane’s telephone activity was intercepted by the Palermo authorities and has been being monitored closely during his hunt. They have reported that this telephonic activity was moving constantly between Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the United Arab Emirates and to a lesser extent among other European countries, giving testament to the transnational and far-reaching nature of this criminal phenomenon.

In April 2015, the coordinators of the Palermo Special Forces in charge of this on-going investigation, Francesco Lo Voi and police magistrate Geri Ferrara, sentenced 24 of Medhane’s collaborators to arrest. Medhane himself, the criminal mastermind behind this notorious trafficking network, has remained at large with an international arrest warrant.

These latest allegations which suggest that the real criminal is still at large, serve as a reminder that nothing is yet certain. The slippery nature of the long-sought after criminal, Medhane, is keeping the Palermo Special Forces on their toes.

DT