Italian police break up human trafficking ring

Italian police arrested 14 people across the country 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 headquarters in Rome 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 in rickety boats for Italy’s southern coasts, police said in a statement.

Over the last year, the ring organised at least 10 such voyages, bringing in more than 2,500 immigrants, mostly North Africans who would pay up to €2,200 each for the trip, said police official Gilberto Caldarozzi.

When Italian authorities detained the immigrants in holding centers near the southern towns of Crotone and Caltanissetta, the members of the group helped some of them escape but then held them hostage until relatives in Italy or abroad came up with a ransom of €516, Caldarozzi said.