Wanted: A police e-fit image of millionaire people trafficker Ermias Ghermay , who is thought to have made £72m with his accomplice Mered Medhanie from smuggling migrants in the last two years

Two millionaire people traffickers have been heard mocking the migrant boat disasters that have resulted in thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean, it has been reported.

One of them, an Eritrean called Mered Medhanie, also known as The General, was heard laughing on a police wiretap about overloading migrant ships, a problem that causes them to capsize.

Medhanie, 34, who is based in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, is said to have boasted: 'They say I put too many aboard , but they're the ones who want to leave in a hurry.'

A second trafficker, Ermias Ghermay , who is thought to have made £72million with Medhanie from smuggling in the last two years, also showed callous disregard for the plight of his 'customers'.

He was heard declaring last summer: 'They organised another trip a few days ago. I don't know what happened – they probably died.'

Ghermay , who also lives in Tripoli, was already wanted on an arrest warrant in connection with an October 2013 capsizing off Lampedusa that left 366 dead.

Reports of the conversations come just days after at least 900 people were feared to have drowned in one of the worst maritime disasters since the end of World War Two.

More than 1,700 have perished in the last week alone.

Italian police yesterday released Ghermay's photofit as they sought to track down the pair, who are among several traffickers wanted in connection with a major human smuggling ring.

Ghermay and Medhanie are currently living undisturbed in Tripoli, exploiting the lawlessness in the collapse state which has allowed smugglers to operate with impunity since the fall of Gaddafi.

Medhanie, who reportedly compares himself to the former Libyan dictator, and his accomplice enjoy the protection of local law authorities in the capital after it was taken over by a rival Islamist faction.

A Italian naval officer stands in front of rescued migrants on board the Italian Navy vessel Bettica as they arrive in the Sicilian harbour of Augusta after being the latest group to be rescued from the Mediterranean

Terrified: Boys embrace as they arrive with migrants at the Sicilian harbor of Augusta with the Italian navy

In another wire tap recording, Medhanie, who is thought to have a wife and child in Sweden, is heard expressing scant regard for migrant suffering.

'We do an illegal job – but what do you expect? We're not the government,' he says, according to La Stampa as reported by The Independent.

Others reveal how his business is booming, with him heard to say: 'This year I've done well – I sent off 7,000 to 8,000.'

Another intercept reveals a discussion between Medhanie and his accomplices in Italy about the possibility of setting up bank accounts in the United Arab Emirates, but opting for U.S. or Canadian banks because 'they don't ask you where the money comes from.'

Safe: European governments came under increasing pressure to tackle the Mediterranean's migrant crisis ahead of a summit as harrowing details emerged of the fate of hundreds who died over the weekend

Rescued migrants wait to disembark from the Italian Navy vessel Bettica in the Sicilian harbour of Augusta

SMUGGLERS 'LOCK MIGRANTS WITH THE DARKEST SKIN BELOW DECK' Barbaric human traffickers are separating migrants by race, locking those with the darkest skin below deck where death is inevitable if the boat sinks, survivors have told. Teenagers arriving on the Italian island of Lampedusa told how passengers from sub-Saharan Africa were placed in the hold with no water, sunlight or, crucially, means of escape. One boy from Somalia told aid workers from Save The Children: 'The Libyans who got me to Italy are not human. 'They pushed eight Nigerians into the sea. They all drowned.' Conversely, Yusuf, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy who fled Gaza for Italy in February, said he was placed on an upper level with other people from the Middle East, it was reported by The Independent. Advertisement

Police in Palermo arrested 15 people on Monday in connection with a smuggling ring they say was masterminded by Ghermay .

Prosecutors say the network had generated transactions worth hundreds of thousands of euros criss-crossing Europe as migrants paid not only to cross the Mediterranean but also to join relatives in northern Europe.

Prosecutor Maurizio Scalia said based on telephone intercepts, the average cost to smuggle a migrant from Eritrea or Ethiopia to Libya ran $4,000 to $5,000, while the crossing to Italy cost an additional $1,000 to $1,500.

Migrants pay hundreds of dollars more to get out of holding centers and at least another $1,000 to travel to northern Europe.

Payments for each leg are made up front, often using the Islamic hawala banking system which is based on an informal honour code in which a relative in northern Europe pays a local broker.

The payment information is then transmitted to the actual traffickers on the ground advising them that the leg has been paid for.

European governments were today under mounting pressure to act decisively on the Mediterranean migrant crisis as harrowing details emerged of the fate of those who died in the worst tragedy to date.

With the crisis set to be discussed at an emergency summit on Thursday, allegations of callous disregard for Arab and African lives are pushing EU leaders to respond to a disaster in which 800 people are feared to have died in appalling circumstances off the coast of Libya on Sunday.

Members of the crew Italian Coast Guard ship Gregoretti prepare to disembark one of the 24 bodies of some of the 800 victims of the migrant boat tragedy in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Malta

Tunisian boat captain Mohammed Ali Malek (centre) is seen speaking to a nurse, believed to be Enrico Vitiello on an Italian coastguard ship before being arrested over the deaths of 950 migrants

A police handout showing Mohammed Ali Malek (left) and Mahmud Bikhit (right) after their arrest in Malta

The vast majority of those on board were locked in the hold or the middle deck of the 20-metre (66-foot) boat when it capsized following a collision with a Portuguese cargo ship responding to its distress signal.

Only 28, including two crew members who have been arrested, survived and 24 bodies have been recovered.

Survivors have described the moment the doomed ship sank, telling how how they clung to dead bodies in the pitch black sea in order to stay afloat.

They also accused the captain of being drunk moments before he rammed another ship, causing the tragedy.

Bangladeshi Riajul Islam, 17, said the only reason he survived was because he was on the top deck and knew how to swim.

Nasir Khan, a fellow 17-year-old Bangladeshi, said he was also on the top deck and lived by clinging on to a life vest.

The stricken boat initially set off from Egypt and then stopped off on the Libyan coast near the city Zuwarah to pick up more passengers, it has been reported.