Police from Italy and Greece have smashed an organised immigration crime network that used leisure boats and pleasure craft to smuggle migrants across the Adriatic Sea.

In the culmination of an operation that was backed by EU law enforcement agencies Europol and Eurojust, investigators from both countries participated in a day of action that involved raids on 13 properties and the arrest of eight suspects of Greek, Italian and Middle Eastern nationality.

The organised immigration crime gang behind the smuggling conspiracy, which is said to have been active since 2018, was allegedly responsible for trafficking some 150 migrants from the west of Greece via the Strait of Corfu to the southern Italian coast between Otranto and Lecce.

Members of the gang were charging migrants as much as €6,000 ($6,666) per person for the 12-hour journey across the sea, which would sometimes be completed in leisure boats as small as ten metres long.

The gang reportedly smuggled migrants as young as 13.

In a statement, Vice-President of Eurojust Filippo Spiezia said: “Tackling migrant smuggling is one of the priorities for Eurojust to enable a good coordination of actions, as we have been able to do in this case.

“At a time when Greece faces a strong migratory pressure, we have to combine efforts and as EU agencies support the effort of national authorities to combat criminal organisations that exploit migrants.”

In a separate operation, Europol and Eurojust helped French and Italian authorities break up another organised immigration crime gang that trafficked migrants from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan from Italy to other EU member states.

Ten Pakistani nationals were arrested in Italy and one in France as part of a day of action carried by investigators from both countries.

This network, which is thought to have been operational for two years, used dilapidated vans to smuggle migrants from Italy to countries across western Europe.

At the end of last month, the European Union pledged €147.7 million to support four projects addressing issues related to migration in North Africa.

The money will be used to help Morocco deal with organised immigration crime and irregular migration and improve the living conditions in Libyan communities and protect refugees and vulnerable migrants stranded in Libya through voluntary returns.

The European Commission said the cash would also be used to offer opportunities for labour migration and mobility in North Africa.

EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi said in a statement: “With this new package we are deepening our partnership with Morocco to further reduce irregular arrivals on the Western Mediterranean route and prevent people risking their lives.”