ROME: Italian police said Wednesday they had arrested 26 suspected members of a gang operating in Rome Internet cafes that smuggled hundreds of Afghans into Europe including possible militants.
Two more suspects had been taken into custody in France and Germany.
“Some of those being investigated are suspected of involvement in international terrorism,” Piero Saviotti, a prosecutor in Rome, told reporters.
The gang was made up mainly of Afghans, Kurds and Pakistanis and used the hawala money transfer system popular in the Middle East and North Africa.
Up to 200 Afghans including some 40 minors were brought into Italy and on to other parts of Europe every month by the gang, investigators said.
The immigrants came mainly from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and were brought to Italy through staging points in Iraq, Iran and Greece.
The last leg of the journey from Greece to Italy was by ship and final destination points in Europe included Belgium, Germany and Sweden.
The cost for the whole journey from Afghanistan to Italy charged by the gang was estimated at between 3,000 and 3,500 euros (3,900 and 4,600 dollars).
The investigation into the gang began in early 2008 as an inquiry into drug trafficking from Afghanistan used to finance suspected militants and it then widened to include the people smuggling operation, investigators said.
The people brought in by the gang are now in immigrant detention centres.
Police found immigrants sleeping in the cellars of two of the Internet cafes seized in the Ostiense quarter south of Rome's city centre. Some were forced to conduct menial work until their families paid off smuggling fees.
Police said they were hunting for 19 more suspects around Europe and investigations were being coordinated by Europol, the EU police agency.
Greek police earlier this week said they had arrested five people for allegedly trying to smuggle 15 Afghan nationals with fake identification papers to Italy on board chartered jets near the northeastern city of Kavala.
Greece is a major point of entry for undocumented immigrants into Europe. – AFP