Italian police who arrested a crew attempting to smuggle desperate migrants to Europe on a luxury yacht have estimated their illegal cargo was worth $800,000.

Police in Ragusa, a Sicilian port town, arrested three Syrian men who were at the helm of the Turkish-flagged yacht attempting to reach the Italian coast.

It is thought the smugglers had charged each person $8,500 (£5,700) to make the crossing, with police saying the total earned by the organisers was somewhere in the region of £536,000.

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The luxury yacht, which was flying a Turkish flag, was stopped as it approached Europe with a 'cargo' which is thought to have been worth $800,000 - or £536,000 - to the organisers

This is far more than the usual cost of between 1,000 and 1,500 euros - £720 to £1,080 - to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

However, the boat was far more seaworthy than some of the other vessels used, which can be anything from wooden fishing vessels to old cargo ships.

Yet even the yacht failed to make the journey in its entirety: the attempt was discovered when two merchant ships were called out to aid a boat in distress.

Selfies and other photos snapped by the Syrian and Palestinian passengers helped police identify the smugglers, police said in a statement.

Police also revealed there were 23 children on bard the yacht.

Harroum Almotassem Billah, Haj Slima Moustafa and Sabaj Ahmmed were all arrested for allegedly being part of the crew.

Harroum Almotassem Billah , one of the three Syrians that were taken in custody by police for allegedly being part of the crew which was at the helm of the yacht

Haj Slima Moustafa was also taken into custody after the yacht - filled with Syrian and Palestinian migrants who paid $8,500 each for the journey - called for help as it approached the coast

Sabaj Ahmmed was the third member of the alleged crew attempting to bring the migrants, including 23 children, to Europe

The boat is the latest vessel to be stopped making the dangerous crossing from north Africa to Europe, packed with migrants desperate to start a new life.

But many of the trips end in tragedy: so far this year, 1,776 have died, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which estimates that 219,000 people made the crossing in 2014.

On Sunday alone, 900 men, women and children are believed to have died after their boat got into difficulty and overturned off Libyan waters, south of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

There were only 28 survivors.

These infrared images show the rescue operation after migrant ship capsized on Sunday

Survivors said they resorted to clinging to floating corpses until coastguards came to their rescue

Surviving immigrants who escaped the boat that capsized in the Mediterranean Sea killing up to 900 people appear deep in thought as they arrive in the Sicilian port city of Catania this morning

Doctor Giuseppe Pomilla, of the Order of Malta, described the three hours he searched for the living among hundreds of dead floating corpses.