The suspected people smugglers, aged between 25 and 33, risk being charged with manslaughter and facilitating illegal immigration after reports they forced the victims to jump overboard by whipping them with their belts.
"It's the first time we've dealt with Syrian smugglers. We're looking into whether there could be a new organized crime front involving Syrians," Francesco Marino, head of the police task force in the city of Ragusa, told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.
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