ROME, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Italian police said Tuesday they had arrested 15 Italian and Tunisian nationals that had been smuggling illegal immigrants from Tunisia to Italy's Sicily.
The crime ring was led by "dangerous Tunisian previous offenders" with Italian accomplices in "a subordinate position," police said in a statement.
They transported anyone who was able to pay, including terrorism suspects and serious crime suspects on the run from Tunisian police, according to the police.
Italian police said the arrested suspects were in the process of planning the transportation of several dangerous individuals, one of whom feared arrest by Tunisian police and deportation by Italian authorities on terrorism charges.
The crime ring engaged in "lucrative trafficking" between Tunisia and the Sicilian coast using high-speed inflatable boats with skippers capable of making the crossing in under four hours, according to police.
The people being transported to Italy paid between 2,000 and 3,000 euros (2,253 and 3,380 U.S. dollars) per person. Each trip could generate 40,000 euros in profits for the crime ring, police said.
The skipper was paid 5,000 euros and the navigator, 3,000 euros.
Once they reached Sicilian beaches, the migrants were met by what police described as a "shuttle service to the organization's logistical bases" where they were fed and given fresh clothes before moving on to their destination of choice.
Investigators were able to track the planning and execution of five such crossings, and also documented and thwarted additional trips that would have brought over 100,000 euros into the crime ring's coffers, according to the police statement.
The money collected in Tunisia was brought to Italy to "supply" the promoters of the crime ring.
The crime ring would have been able to carry out at least two crossings a week from Tunisia to Italy over the coming summer, police said.
Police said that one such landing on the Sicilian coast involved intercepting 14 illegal migrants and seizing 100 kg of contraband cigarettes.
The contraband cigarette racket was worth 17,000 euros per 100 kg, police said. The cigarettes were sold at markets in the Sicilian cities of Palermo and Trapani at three euros a pack.
Charges include transnational criminal conspiracy to commit human trafficking and cigarette smuggling.
Police also seized 10 vehicles and two vessels.
