Human traffickers thwarted as 14 arrested in raids

ITALIAN police arrested 14 people in raids against a human trafficking ring that brought in illegal immigrants from Africa then abducted some of them for ransom, officials said today.

The raids targeted a group that included mostly Moroccans and Eritreans, and 17 people were still being sought, police said.

The group allegedly had bases in Sicily and Calabria as well as Egypt and Libya, from where each year thousands of immigrants set out for Italy’s southern coasts.

Over the last year, the ring organised at least 10 such voyages, bringing in more than 2,500 immigrants, who would pay up to £1,500 (€2,215), said police official Gilberto Caldarozzi.

When Italian authorities detained the immigrants the group helped some of them escape but then held them hostage until relatives came up with a ransom of £350 (€517), Caldarozzi said.