By then end of 2015, the European Union predicts the number of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean could spike to 500,000 or even a million. That could bean ten of thousands of deaths as desperate refugees crowd into flimsy vessels, paying hundreds of dollars for a chance at a new life in Europe. Behind these deaths is a network of people traffickers and mafia connections, whose new business - "bigger than drugs" - depends on trading in human cargo.
One man Erimas Ghermay, alias "the Ethiopian" is at the centre of those networks. Forty years old, street smart and multilingual, Ghermay is the mastermind of one of the biggest groups of people traffickers in a $7bn industry. Under his watch, "colonels" all over North Africa and Europe move refugees northwards for cash fares, paid in advance. Many of them will drown in Ghermay's "disposable" boats. If they survive, reaching the coastlines of Southern Europe, they will likely fall prey to the Mafia, whose control extends inside refugee centres.
Using transcripts of Ghermay's phone calls recorded secretly by the Italian police, Newsweek reporters Alex Perry and Connie Agius piece together the details of how Ghermay plies his deadly trade.
One man Erimas Ghermay, alias "the Ethiopian" is at the centre of those networks. Forty years old, street smart and multilingual, Ghermay is the mastermind of one of the biggest groups of people traffickers in a $7bn industry. Under his watch, "colonels" all over North Africa and Europe move refugees northwards for cash fares, paid in advance. Many of them will drown in Ghermay's "disposable" boats. If they survive, reaching the coastlines of Southern Europe, they will likely fall prey to the Mafia, whose control extends inside refugee centres.
Using transcripts of Ghermay's phone calls recorded secretly by the Italian police, Newsweek reporters Alex Perry and Connie Agius piece together the details of how Ghermay plies his deadly trade.
