Police in the northern Italian city of Milan arrested ten alleged smugglers -- six Cameroonian citizens and four Afghans -- on Saturday (February 12). They allegedly belonged to two criminal organizations that smuggled undocumented Afghan and central African migrants across Italy and to northern Europe.

The suspects primarily helped migrants to reach France, including through carpooling services, investigative sources said. Police said that they documented 29 trips organized by the two groups.

The arrests followed a year-long investigation coordinated by DDA anti-mafia investigators, according to investigators.

Arrest warrants were also issued for six other people suspected of being involved in the operation -- four suspects from Cameroon and two from Afghanistan.

Investigation started on Lampedusa

The probe into the Cameroonian group started on Lampedusa, investigators said. Police reportedly received information regarding the alleged presence of members of cells smuggling migrants from Milan. The suspects were identified after police discovered how the organization operated, including from bars in the area of Milan's central station, investigative sources said. Police tapped the phones of suspects to investigate their operation.

The roles of organization members were well defined, investigative sources said. Some were reportedly in charge of welcoming migrants when they arrived in Milan while others organized their trips or obtained documents.

Migrants reportedly paid the group €500 each. They were brought to Milan, where they were hosted in apartments rented by fellow nationals for a few days. Then, they travelled onward by land to other European cities -- often using car pooling services like BlaBlaCar.

Fellow passengers who were looking for someone to share the cost of a car trip were unaware of the situation, investigators said.

The alleged smugglers reportedly chose routes where controls were unlikely. Investigators described work to organize the journeys as "meticulous."

In some cases, departures were reportedly blocked by police officers, who pretended to be carrying random spot check inspections.

The group allegedly provided travellers with documents which in some cases were fake or belonged to other people. Police investigating the case reportedly seized some of these passports and identity papers.

Two organizations smuggling migrants

While they were investigating the activities of the Cameroonian suspects, police officers reportedly discovered a parallel Afghan organization that operated similarly.

However, in several instances, the Afghan suspects allegedly used the train to smuggle migrants. In order to identify the alleged smugglers and the migrants, police pretended to carry out spot checks on two trains, according to the sources.

Investigators allege that the Afghan suspects accompanied migrants to an area close to the Italian cities of Imperia and Ventimiglia, at the border with France, and then, after a few days in makeshift shelters, took them across the border or brought them to a spot near the border so they could cross on foot.