Italian police Friday said they had arrested two Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of smuggling 16 Syrian refugees into the country by yacht from Turkey, AFP reports.
The Ukrainians, who were not identified, were intercepted aboard the 10-meter yacht in the early hours of Thursday, the national financial police said in a statement.
The vessel had just dropped off 16 Syrians on the coast near the town of Isola Capo Rizzuto, in the southern region of Calabria, they said.
A police spokesman told AFP the Syrians had paid around 5,000 Euro ($5,600) each for their passage.