Italian police intercepted two boats with scores of clandestine immigrants Sunday in waters off Sicily and were towing them to a detention center, authorities said. Hours earlier, dozens of would-be immigrants aboard a different vessel were reportedly tossed into the sea by smugglers. Customs police officials said the two boats being towed were about 13 meters (42 feet) long and each carried about 100 people. They were spotted in the waters south of Lampedusa, a fishing and vacation island closer to the northern shores of Africa than the Italian mainland. The nationalities of the would-be immigrants were not immediately clear. They were being taken to a detention center for illegal arrivals on the island. --SP 2314 Local Time 2014 GMT
