By Lydia Emmanouilidou, Samh Labudi, Stavros Malichudis and Corina Petridi
“I screamed; I couldn’t believe it. We searched online to find pictures of those who survived and those who died.”
In a small village in Al-Sharqia governorate, 77 kilometres from Cairo, Sa’edia Adel recalls the moment she learned on Facebook that the boat carrying her son, Ahmed, had capsized off the coast of Pylos, Greece.
Ahmed, 32 at the time, had left behind his wife and three young children to seek work in Europe. The family, already reeling from the recent loss of an infant due to unaffordable medical care, pinned their hopes on this dangerous journey.
In the agonising days that followed, Sa’edia searched for news of her son’s fate. Then she saw a photo confirming he was alive. But the relief was short-lived.
The image showed Ahmed shielding his face with his hands inside a Greek police car. Sa’edia recognised him instantly, not by his face, but by his hands.
Ahmed was one of approximately 750 migrants packed onto a fishing trawler that sank off of Pylos, Greece, in the early hours of 14 June 2023 in one of the deadliest shipwrecks the Mediterranean has seen in years. Only 104 people survived. Eighty-two bodies were recovered, and over 500 people disappeared beneath the waves.
Within hours of the wreck, Greek authorities quickly shifted their focus to identifying those responsible for organising the ill-fated voyage.
Nine Egyptian men, including Ahmed, were singled out and arrested, accused of being part of a smuggling ring that had organised the journey from Libya to Italy.
However, within weeks, evidence began to surface suggesting the so-called “Pylos 9” were not smugglers but victims themselves – deceived by smugglers offering false promises of work in Europe. Despite this, the nine remained in pre-trial detention for nearly a year.
A months-long investigation led by the Greek investigative newsroom Solomon and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) network in collaboration with Spain’s El País, Germany’s Die Tageszeitung, and The New Humanitarian reveals that Greek authorities were aware of evidence vindicating the Pylos 9 yet chose to keep them incarcerated.
The investigation team obtained and reviewed more than 700 pages of sealed Egyptian documents from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Interior. These documents, which make up the complete dossier of the Egyptian authorities’ investigation, concluded that the nine were not members of a smuggling ring. Instead, they were victims, lured by smugglers with false promises of jobs in Europe.
As early as July 2023, just a month after the shipwreck, Greek authorities had access to evidence clearing the nine. Yet they remained imprisoned for nearly a year, facing potential sentences of hundreds of years each.
The Egyptian authorities provided Greece with a detailed report identifying the real smugglers and their roles within the criminal network. Despite this, the Egyptian documents suggest that Greece ignored Egypt’s findings and initially refused to cooperate, leaving innocent men behind bars – while several of the actual smugglers were arrested and convicted in Egypt.
As early as July 2023, just a month after the shipwreck, Greek authorities had access to evidence clearing the nine. Yet they remained imprisoned for nearly a year, facing potential sentences of hundreds of years each. They were released only when the court in Kalamata, Greece, ruled it did not have the jurisdiction to try the case in May of this year because the sinking had occurred in international waters. The charges against them were dropped, and they are now awaiting decisions on their asylum claims.
This investigation uncovers a troubling contradiction: while Greece publicly praised its cooperation with Egypt to combat smuggling, it disregarded Egypt’s key findings and even appears to have withheld critical information requested for the investigation – an apparent breach of a judicial cooperation agreement the two countries signed in 1986.
While thousands of refugees and migrants across Europe have been sentenced to years in prison on smuggling charges in a misguided “war on smuggling”, the documents expose the multi-layered and transnational structures of modern smuggling networks – whose leaders and profiteers often evade accountability.
This transnational syndicate, behind one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwrecks, operated across Egypt and Libya, exploiting migrants using unsafe vessels and laundering large sums through shadow companies. The Egyptian authorities’ manhunt detailed in the documents – including raids that uncovered cash and migrant lists – reveals the network’s sophistication and scale.
Egypt seeks cooperation, Greece stalls
When news of the Pylos shipwreck broke on 14 June 2023, Egyptian authorities launched an investigation the very next day. The Egyptian Public Prosecution Office, instructed to treat the case as a top priority, worked alongside the Directorate General for Combating Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants within the Interior Ministry.
Egypt’s efforts initially identified 31 suspects connected to the smuggling network. The arrest of a low-ranking member soon led to the discovery of five additional names, expanding the list to 36 individuals believed to be involved in orchestrating the journey.
On 8 July 2023, Egypt’s Attorney General formally requested mutual legal assistance from the Greek Ministry of Justice, citing a bilateral agreement on criminal cooperation between the two countries, signed in December 1986.
Egypt shared all the information it had gathered on the structure and staffing of the smuggling ring, including the names of the identified network members and their roles. None of the nine arrested in Greece were among the 36 members identified.
In return, Egypt asked Greece to provide findings from its investigations, details about the circumstances of the shipwreck, and testimonies from survivors and defendants to “reach the truth in this crime”.
By late August 2023, Greece had yet to respond, prompting Egypt to send an urgent follow-up request for information to “find the real perpetrators” responsible. This latest request included the Egyptian prosecution’s investigations, which concluded that there was no connection between the nine survivors detained in Greece and the smuggling network behind the boat.
Reporters involved in this joint investigation reached out to Greek authorities for comment on the report’s findings. The authorities did not respond or address questions about potential communications with Egypt concerning the smuggling ring inquiry.
Timeline of official communication between Egyptian and Greek authorities
Inside Egypt’s hunt for the smuggling ring
Egyptian authorities acted swiftly after the Pylos shipwreck, identifying 36 suspects connected to the smuggling ring. By mid-July 2023, they had arrested 23 suspected members while 13 others fled to Libya.
The documents reveal key moments in the operation. On 14 July, Egyptian police raided a luxury villa in the seaside resort town of Al-Agami, arresting Mohammed Solaiman. Known as the right-hand man of the notorious Abu Sultan – leader of one of North Africa’s largest smuggling networks – Solaiman had 330,000 Egyptian pounds, 1,000 euros, and contracts for properties purchased after the shipwreck. Authorities also discovered a notebook listing 146 migrants with corresponding payments of 140,000 Egyptian pounds, the cost of their journey to Italy.
Another suspect, Hassan al-Badawy, was apprehended in his home in Metoubas. He was one of three defendants police had moved in to arrest in the city in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate. One had already fled, but hidden in a box labelled “Fresca” in the fugitive’s home police found more than 2.5 million Egyptian pounds (approximately 47,750 euros).
Though al-Badawy denied direct involvement with the ring, a forensic examination of his phone revealed damning evidence: photos of migrants who had been on the sunken boat, messages coordinating the trip, smugglers’ phone numbers, and payment records. Notably, after the shipwreck he joined a Facebook group created to track Pylos survivors, and screenshotted a post about a missing person from the shipwreck – evidence he tried to delete but authorities retrieved through forensic means.
Information gathered from such arrests provided critical insights into the sprawling smuggling network, a clandestine operation that thrived in the shadows for years.
From North Africa to Europe: A criminal enterprise
Operating since at least 2017, the transnational network was headed by Mohammed Saad al-Geheshi – better known by his alias, Abu Sultan – in an area spanning Egypt and Libya. The Libyan national, 36, earned a reputation so infamous that others have adopted his alias to carry out their own illicit activities. This investigation is the first to reveal his real name publicly.
This network leveraged legitimate businesses, including the recruitment and travel agency Al Farahat in Giza province, to mask its operations. For instance, at least one Al Farahat employee transported migrants to departure points like Borg El Arab Airport or the border town of Sallum. One Pylos survivor, later falsely accused as a smuggler in Greece, was photographed outside an Al Farahat office with his father the day they paid for his journey.
Migrants were transported through desert passes to Libya, sometimes aided by Bedouin smugglers. Once in Libya, they were held in warehouses until their sea journey began.
Smugglers operated on a three-tier payment system, with higher prices offering slightly better conditions during the voyage. Based on the amounts Ahmed Adel and another member of the “Pylos 9” paid, they appeared to be in the second tier – crowded onto the deck and placed near the engine.
Payments were laundered through jewellery stores, currency exchanges, and real estate purchases. In testimony, one defendant admitted the ring systematically bought unsafe fishing boats for these voyages. The Vodafone Cash app was often used to facilitate financial transactions between the smugglers and the migrants.
The network’s scope extended to Facebook, where pages like “Mohammed Abu Sultan for travel to Italy” (written in Arabic) recruited migrants under the false promise of jobs in Europe. Members of the ring included drivers, farmers, and even a lawyer – all playing distinct roles, from collecting payments to coordinating logistics.
This highly organised and multi-layered network thrived on deception – false promises of jobs awaiting in Europe, but also of easy voyages, vessel safety, and other misrepresentations – exploiting the desperation of migrants while reaping significant profits.
Egypt clears the nine, but Greece holds firm
On 30 August 2023, the Egyptian Public Prosecution Office summoned the head of the Directorate for Combating Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants to testify on the investigation into the smuggling network.
According to transcripts of his testimony, obtained by Solomon and ARIJ and reviewed by The New Humanitarian, TAZ, and El País, the prosecution asked about the connection between the nine defendants in custody in Greece and those arrested by Egyptian police.
The head of the service expressed his certainty that the nine were not members of the smuggling ring. “Investigations have established that the nine accused in Greece are victims,” he said, just like the other migrants being transported. He testified that they were not related to the ring and that the nine defendants had paid 140,000-160,000 Egyptian pounds (2,680-3,065 euros) each, like the other transferees.
He added that the connection between the victims in Greece and the criminal ring in Egypt was limited to the network recruiting them under false promises of job opportunities in a European country and arranging their travel.
This conclusion was further corroborated by members of the smuggling network arrested in Egypt, who also denied any links between the nine men in Greek custody and the ring.
This joint investigation reveals that the Greek Ministry of Justice forwarded Egypt’s findings to the Kalamata office, which handled the case against the nine survivors.
Greece initially ignored Egypt’s requests for judicial cooperation. When it finally responded, between late August and late September 2023, it declined the request, citing that such cooperation was not possible “at this time” because the case had been “referred to the competent court”.
Whether Greece later reconsidered and engaged with Egyptian authorities remains unclear. Greek officials did not respond to a request for clarification on their communication with Egypt regarding the case.
Shoddy evidence, long detention
The judicial note – sent by Egypt on 8 July – and received by Greece reveals that the Greek authorities had been aware since July 2023 that the Egyptian survivors detained in Nafplion prison had no connection to the smuggling network. Despite this knowledge, Greek prosecutors neither released the Egyptian survivors nor acted on the information provided by Egypt. Instead, they referred the nine Egyptians for criminal prosecution on charges that carry penalties of up to life imprisonment.
Documents reviewed by this investigation, and testimonies from the accused and their families, cast doubt on the charges, which included those of smuggling, illegal entry into Greece, participation in a criminal organisation, and causing a deadly shipwreck. Reporters working on this investigation spoke to one of the nine men while he was still in prison and several family members of the nine in Egypt as the case unfolded.
The nine Egyptians came from diverse backgrounds. The oldest was born in 1983, while the youngest, born in 2003, had just begun to build his future. Among them was a recent law school graduate.
As part of this joint investigation, reporters examined voice and text messages exchanged between family members of two accused individuals and smugglers in Abu Sultan’s ring. These communications, along with payment records, suggested they had paid for their journeys and were not themselves smugglers profiting from the operation. Messages between the men and their families confirm their presence in Libyan warehouses where migrants were held.
In preparation for their trial on 21 May 2024 in Kalamata, Greece, the defence amassed a wealth of evidence exonerating all nine men. Lawyers said the charges were based on hastily gathered testimonies from other survivors, and raised serious questions about their validity. Leading human rights organisations asserted that the prosecution of the nine individuals relied on “incomplete and questionable evidence”.
However, this evidence never came to light. The court in Kalamata declared itself incompetent to try the case and acquitted all nine defendants.
Criminalising asylum seekers: A troubling pattern in Greece
The findings of this investigation go beyond one tragic event. They speak to Greece’s pattern of casting refugees as criminals, often overlooking the smuggling networks actually responsible.
“Accusing survivors, such as the ‘Pylos 9,’ shifts blame away from the authorities whose failures and deliberate choices led to the deadly shipwreck.”
“This case undoubtedly fits into the broader pattern of criminalising people on the move by scapegoating individuals,” said Ioanna Begiazi of the Human Rights Legal Project, a Samos-based NGO that tracks criminalisation cases occurring “almost daily on Samos and the Aegean islands and also the mainland”. The organisation helped represent the “Pylos 9”. Begiazi emphasised that these findings highlight the urgent need to address the wrongful criminalisation of asylum seekers in Europe.
“Accusing survivors, such as the ‘Pylos 9,’ shifts blame away from the authorities whose failures and deliberate choices led to the deadly shipwreck,” Begiazi added.
A previous investigation by Solomon and its media partners revealed evidence suggesting that both actions and negligence by the Greek Coast Guard and the EU’s Border Agency, Frontex, played a significant role in the June 2023 shipwreck that claimed hundreds of lives.
Campaigners argue that the EU’s harsh deterrence policies, coupled with limited safe and legal migration pathways, are fueling smuggling networks that profit by facilitating unlawful journeys for migrants seeking safety and opportunity.
Parallel trials in Egypt and Greece
On Monday, 5 February 2024, seven months after the shipwreck, Egyptian judges in Wadi el-Natrun heard the case against 36 defendants connected to the smuggling network. Of these, 23 were present. The remaining 13, including the network’s leader, Abu Sultan, had managed to evade capture and were tried in absentia.
The trial concluded with harsh sentences. Eleven defendants, including Abu Sultan, received life imprisonment and fines of five million Egyptian pounds each – approximately 94,000 euros. Sixteen others were sentenced to five years and fined one million Egyptian pounds (19,000 euros) each.
From their village in Egypt’s Al-Sharqia Governorate, the family of Ahmed Adel waited anxiously for news of his fate in Greece and the trial scheduled for 21 May 2024. For nearly a year, the family had endured grief and uncertainty, their lives confined to a modest home shared by six family members.
Adel’s mother, still mourning the recent loss of her grandchild, had little hope for a favourable outcome. She recounted to one of this investigation’s reporters that when news of his acquittal finally reached her, her relief spilled into the street. She rushed outside without her headscarf, shouting, “My son was acquitted! My son was acquitted!” She shed the black mourning clothes she had worn for 11 months and bought soft drinks to share with neighbours in celebration.
Later, in the family’s tiny kitchen, she prepared rice pudding – a traditional Egyptian dish served to mark life’s happiest moments, such as weddings or the birth of a child. For Ahmed’s family, it symbolised more than just joy: It marked the end of a relentless ordeal and the hope of starting anew.
One week earlier, on 14 May 2024, Egypt’s Tanta Court of Appeals upheld the verdict against the smugglers, confirming the imprisonment of all but one of those detained since February. Among the nine defendants initially acquitted due to insufficient evidence, three were later convicted for secondary participation in the criminal organisation. Meanwhile, those who evaded capture, including the network’s leader, Abu Sultan, remain at large.
Late last month, the Kalamata court rejected an application by the Pylos 9 seeking compensation for the nearly one year they spent in prison.
Edited by Eric Reidy and Andrew Gully.
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The New Humanitarian puts quality, independent journalism at the service of the millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the world. Find out more at www.thenewhumanitarian.org.
