Italy’s northern frontier with France was the focus of an intensive, week-long law-enforcement operation that concluded in the early hours of 4 October. Border-police units backed by army personnel under *Operazione Strade Sicure* set up 69 checkpoints at the road, rail and maritime crossings around Ventimiglia, inspecting 1,181 travellers and 243 vehicles. Eight people were arrested—including two long-term fugitives wanted in Naples and Varese—and five irregular migrants were repatriated. The sweep is the most extensive since Italy deployed the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) this summer. Officers used the biometric database to verify the authenticity of Schengen visas and to detect passport overstays in real time. According to regional border-police chief Michele Sole, the operation proved “the added value of EES for tackling trans-national crime and migrant smuggling while keeping traffic moving”. Cross-border teams with French police in Menton made one arrest of a French ‘passeur’ caught transporting undocumented migrants to Nice. Ventimiglia had become a flash-point in 2025 when France re-imposed internal border checks under Article 25 of the Schengen Code. Although Paris has since scaled back controls, flows of asylum-seekers heading for northern Europe continue to bottleneck along the Ligurian coast, forcing Italy to maintain a high policing profile. The latest operation coincided with a temporary closure of the A8 motorway tunnel after a migrant was seen walking through the carriageway, highlighting ongoing safety concerns for commercial drivers. For corporate mobility managers the message is clear: executives and lorry drivers crossing into France should carry physical proof of accommodation and purpose of stay, even if holding valid Schengen visas, as random inspections have intensified. Companies that rely on just-in-time delivery through the Ventimiglia corridor may also want to build extra buffer time into schedules; several freight consignments experienced delays of up to 45 minutes during the blitz. Italian officials say further joint patrols are planned as EES analytics identify high-risk time-slots and routes. Businesses moving staff or goods between the two countries should monitor alerts from both the Italian *Polizia di Frontiera* and the French *Police aux Frontières* to avoid disruption.
Source: Il Secolo XIX
