A secret communication method used by people smugglers has been cracked by researchers. The so-called "migrant's code", used to manage the flow of migrants from the African Sahel region to Europe, has reportedly been cracked by two Italian researchers at Tuscia University.

Michele Empler and Livio Calabresi, said they discovered the code of symbols used to publicise journeys to Europe without using a specific language, thereby reaching more people and going undetected. The pair created a web crawler that used AI to extract data to create a code. Mr Empler explained: "Through these symbols, we were able to not only identify information concerning movements and agreements aimed at trafficking, but also the disinformation that drives flows towards target countries like Italy."

He said this is happening "in broad daylight", adding: "They are able to escape control because they don't use semantics we know and which we can thus decipher."

Their results were presented during an event on migration organised by the Centre for Higher Defence Studies in Rome.

The Centre for Higher Defence Studies said: "The code, which has been summed up in an algebraic formula that can be replicated, has translated the language which, surprisingly, uses the most banal of representations: emoticons."

Smugglers use symbols in the form of "emoticons, which cannot be deciphered by traditional security systems and posted on the most widely used social networks", it added.

Mr Calabresi said they found "images, videos and content including contacts and phone numbers that create attractive and naturally fake realities, which migrants trust because they believe them to be real and verified".

The videos included "showing how easy the trip is, with photos and addresses of homes in Italian cities" and telling migrants they'd definitely be able to get valid documents.

The centre said their work could "undoubtedly contribute to identifying methods and channels fostering illegal immigration and which, with more funding, could be a fundamental tool for the government and defense".