Two Iraqi citizens and an Italian residing in the southern Puglian city of Brindisi were notified by police that a preliminary investigation against them has been concluded on charges of favoring illegal immigration, investigative sources said on Wednesday (October 19).

Investigators believe the three suspects helped several non-EU citizens without documents enter Italy and stay illegally.

$5,000 allegedly paid per trip

A statement issued by Italian police said that, "according to the probe carried out, the three under investigation allegedly violated immigration legislation by favoring the entry and illegal stay in Italy of several non-EU citizens without any documents." The migrants are thought to have used Italy as a stopover before traveling on to other destinations in France and Great Britain.

The investigation kicked off, according to the statement, "after the identification of an Iraqi citizen who is accused of helping non-EU citizens reach Italian territory illegally."

Investigative sources said men and women, including Pakistanis, Afghans, Kurds and Arabs, initially contacted a trafficker suspected to be part of a transnational criminal organization. The trips are thought to have cost $5,000 and departed from Iran.

'A complex transnational organization'

According to sources, one of those arrested served as a point of contact between Iran and Italy. Migrants involved are thought to have left a city close to the border between Iran and Turkey and traveled to Greece before crossing the Adriatic Sea to reach Italy.

Once the migrants arrived in the Italian port of Brindisi, they were taken on a lorry to the northwestern border city of Ventimiglia from where they reached their final destination, investigative sources said.

Police also said in the statement that a "complex transnational organization" was behind the Iraqi suspect and his alleged accomplices (another Iraqi and an Italian resident of Brindisi). The organization is suspected of working to "favor the arrival of undocumented foreigners in Italy to then take them elsewhere", according to the same source.

At the end of the investigation, the three have been charged with favoring illegal immigration.