Police arrested a Syrian in Germany on Wednesday suspected of helping to set a freighter packed with migrants on a collision course with the Italian coastline, AFP reports.
Italian and German forces, working in collaboration, handcuffed the 26-year-old alleged trafficker in Soest in the country's northwest and were hunting for his brother, 22, also believed to have played a role in the major maritime drama.
The brothers, plus a third accomplice, were suspected of having helped set the Moldovan-registered Blue Sky M freighter on course for Italy in December before abandoning the controls, locking the engine on and hiding themselves among the 768 asylum seekers on board.
Italy's coastguard managed to board, unlock the engine and bring the vessel under control just five miles (eight kilometres) from the cliffs.
An eight-month investigation found the Blue Sky M voyage was organised by an international network of criminals operating between Lebanon, Romania, Syria and Turkey, police said in a statement.