Police on Monday carried out orders
from Palermo's anti-mafia investigative unit to detain 38 people
in cities across Italy in connection with an alleged
migrant-trafficking ring, which investigators said had its
financial hub in Rome.
Officers seized 526,000 euros and 25,000 dollars in cash
from a Rome business along with a ledger containing the names of
foreign citizens and references to payments, police said.
Investigators said the crime ring operated out of a
business in Rome using a hawala value transfer system - a
banking system that operates using brokers outside of
traditional channels, in which no actual money exchanges hands.
Migrants arrived in Italy by boat and made false claims of
family reunification, police said.
They said some of the main suspects also had a business
dealing a drug from Ethiopia called catha (also known as
"khat"), which is illegal in Italy.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
