Roman Ring Smuggle Mujahadin to Europe using Hawalas

Rome. Italian police said Wednesday they had arrested 26 suspected members of a gang operating in Rome Internet cafes that smuggled hundreds of Afghans into Europe including possible Islamist militants, AFP reports.

Two more suspects had been taken into custody in France and Germany."Some of those being investigated are suspected of involvement in international terrorism," Piero Saviotti, a prosecutor in Rome, told reporters.The gang was made up mainly of Afghans, Kurds and Pakistanis and used the hawala money transfer system popular in the Middle East and North Africa.

Up to 200 Afghans including some 40 minors were brought into Italy and on to other parts of Europe every month by the gang, investigators said.The immigrants came mainly from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and were brought to Italy through staging points in Iraq, Iran and Greece.

The Rest @ Focus Fen