However, after police became suspicious about his identity, a squad of officers from Agrigento, Sicily detained Ben Nasr and three others, believed to be traffickers who organised the journey from Libya. Ben Nasr insisted for three days that he was seeking asylum from his country for political reasons, before his real identity was exposed using fingerprint records. The Tunisian, who has since been sent back to his country, is considered one of the most dangerous terrorists known to the Italian security services due to his role in the recruitment of would-be jihadists and sending them to Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. He was arrested in April 2008 following a large terrorist investigation by the Special Operations Group, a division of the Italian carabinieri. During the arrest, police found al-Qaeda manuals linked to the production of explosives and detonation devices. Just days before, he was heard giving advice and recommending contacts to a group of terrorists in Syria during an intercepted phone call. Fears have been growing in Italy for months that terrorists could be infiltrating boats carrying migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean to Europe. However, officials have so far denied any incidents. Giorgio Brandolin, the deputy chairman of a cross-chamber parliamentary committee on immigration and security, said in September that there had been no confirmed cases. It was widely thought that terrorists considered the dangerous Mediterranean route too much of a risk for recruits who had been trained at considerable expense. Ben Nasr reportedly arrived in Lampedusa on October 4. The Italian interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ISIS has been using the rising tide of refugees from Libya and Syria to move its fighters into Europe. What previously was deemed a suspicion, has now been proven by specific published cases. Italy recently returned Mehdi Ben Nasr to Tunisia, after he arrived in Lampedusa on a refugee boat from Libya, claiming to be one Mohamed Ben Sar. The Italian government is also investigating whether Tunisian authorities have allowed Tunisians who are fighting with ISIS, or planning to, to cross over illegally into Italy. Ben Nasr had been arrested in Italy in 2008 for recruiting members to Al Qaeda.