Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said on Tuesday that Italy would set up a special national task force to combat human traffickers responsible for the tragic shipwrecks, leading to scores of migrant deaths off the Italian coasts.

Amato said that the special force would be similar to the national anti-terrorism and anti-Mafia teams, which have successfully made a series of significant arrests.

After meeting with Piero Grasso, head of the National Anti-Mafia Directorate (DNA), Amato said the two groups of magistrates would be based in the Sicilian cities of Palermo and Agrigento.

The Rome-based police experts will handle the investigation and collect information obtained by the police around the country.

Human trafficking is just as dangerous as terrorism and the Mafia, according to Amato, who stressed that it "threatens society and the law."

The minister said the police and prosecutors would attempt to track down the ringleaders of the criminal organizations, working their way up to destroy the networks by arresting those who ferried the migrants.

Recent data released by the Interior Ministry suggested that human trafficking rings have a global turnover, close to that of the world narcotics trade.

Referring to the controversy in Italy of whether Libya contributed to the phenomenon, Amato said relations with Tripoli were good.

He said he had recently met with a group of Libyan security officials, to discuss ways of strengthening cooperation, following shipwrecks off the island of Lampedusa, over the weekend.

Amato announced that Italian, Maltese and Libyan officials would meet at the end of August, most likely on Aug. 29, to discuss the immigration emergency.

The talks are expected to focus on the possibility of sending joint sea patrols by Italy, Malta, Libya, Spain and Cyprus, to the Mediterranean.

Italy is a popular destination for would-be immigrants, seeking a gateway into Europe.

One of the main routes for would-be immigrants heading for Europe is going through the central African deserts into Libya, and then, up to ports on the northern coast. Once there, they pay organized crime groups, to ferry them toward Italy in creaky boats.

Source: Xinhua