Last week, Italian border police in Trieste announced the dismantling of a Chinese criminal organization allegedly involved in aiding and abetting illegal immigration.

The network reportedly used luxury cars to smuggle Chinese migrants into Italy, confiscating their passports upon arrival and exploiting them until their debts were paid off.

Nine Chinese nationals have been arrested, and 27 people have been reported to the police but not placed under arrest. These include three individuals accused of aiding and abetting irregular immigration and 24 for illegally entering Italian territory.

The details of the operation, conducted under deputy prosecutor Federico Frezza, were presented during a meeting at the prosecutor's office on June 26.

Also read: Italian police dismantle migrant smuggling network operating from Turkey to northern Europe

Inquiry began in April after Chinese national's arrest

Investigators were alerted to a possible network in April when a Chinese national was stopped at the border between Italy and Slovenia. During routine border control in the Trieste area, the individual was found transporting four undocumented Chinese migrants who had just arrived from Slovenia.

Successive verifications conducted by the judicial police made it possible to discover a channel being used to bring undocumented Chinese nationals to Italy in small groups through Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia.

Details of method

The migrants were flown from China to countries near Italy, such as Serbia, which do not require visas, according to a police statement. From there, they were transported via the Balkan route to a safe house in Cazzago di Pianiga in Italy's Venice region, where they stayed for a few days.

From there, drivers accompanied them towards their final destinations including Venice, Milan, and Prato, as well as France and Spain. The passports of those arriving in Italy were taken from them and sent back to China, the statement added.

From that moment on, the migrants became 'ghosts', destined to be exploited until their debts for the journey had been paid: effectively trapped in textile factories and garment workshops.

Also read: Italy: Police seize €12 million of assets from exploiter of migrants

Well-dressed and travelling in expensive vehicles

The investigation identified 77 undocumented foreigners, including women and minors aged 15 to 18. Among the nine arrested was one individual believed to be the organizer of the criminal operation.

All arrests have been upheld by Trieste preliminary judge Massimo Tomassini, who issued precautionary measures.

The investigation brought to light the existence of a constant flow of migrants entering Italy under the cover of being well-dressed Asian nationals with very little luggage, travelling in expensive vehicles being driven by Chinese nationals who had lived in Italy for many years.

During the search of the 'safe house', 10,000 euros in cash and 22 credit cards were found as well as 86 ID documents; some 54 of the latter were altered or counterfeit. The arrest of the alleged organizer, with the seizure of the home, thus halted the transit of the 'Chinese shuttle' that almost daily had connected the Italian-Slovenian border with major Italian cities in the northern part of the country.

Also read: Van with migrants flees police and crashes into border guardrail