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Extradited ‘people smuggler’ may be the wrong man

June 9, 2016 at 11:55 am

A man who was extradited to Italy after he was said to be the head of a human trafficking ring is thought to have fallen victim to a case of mistaken identity.

British, Italian and Sudanese authorities announced the capture of Medhanie Yehdego Mered, 35, known as ‘The General’, whose continent-wide smuggling network netted him more than £75 million.

Mered was said to have been extradited from Sudan to Italy to be tried. However, after images of the detainee were circulated in the media, several people have come forward to say the man captured is actually an Eritrean refugee and not the human trafficking mastermind.

Authorities in Italy and London are now urgently investigating the possibility that they may have been sent the wrong man from Sudan.

The man, who claimed to be Mered, was arrested by local authorities at a safe house in the Sudanese capital Khartoum last month after a year-long inquiry.