Italian police crack illegal immigration network

Italian police arrested 64 people Monday in a major operation against a people-trafficking organisation that brought around 1,500 immigrants to Italy over three years, Ansa agency reported.

Head of the organisation, Italian Roberto Avigdor, had built up a network of illegal immigration, helped by accomplices in the origin countries and through illicit agreements with agricultural and professional associations in Italy.

Avigdor had an office in Tunisia, and accomplices in Morocco, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China and Albania. After a three-year investigation, the tribunal in Pescara, central Italy, issued warrants resulting in the 64 arrests in 23 provinces in northern and central Italy.

The majority of the 1,500 immigrants brought into Italy were exploited as farm labourers, often housed in inhumane conditions and paid between two and three euros per working day.

AFP