A series of arrest warrants have been issued by magistrates in Catanzaro for 29 people who are believed to belong to a criminal organisation bringing immigrants into Italy illegally. The suspects, some of whom are suspected of crimes of enslavemnet and kidnapping, are considered responsible for an intense flow of immigrants from Libya towards Italy. The arrests were carried out by police officers from Crotone in various cities in Italy and some North African countries. The warrants were issued at the conclusion of complex inquiries carried out by a specially set up group involving detectives from Crotone, Milan and Bergamo. The suspects are of North African origin, and are all accused of criminal association, human trafficking and aiding and abetting the entry of illegal immigrants into Italy and kidnapping with request for ransom. The inquiries, in collaboration with the secret services, have revealed roles, means and strategies of a criminal group with operating bases in Egypt and Libya and ramifications in Italy, active predominantly in Calabria and Lombardy. The gang concentrated migrants in Egypt before transferring them to Libya where they embarked in the direction of the Italian coast, in particular the Island of Lampedusa. Details of the operation will be revealed at a press conference this morning. There is also a theory that those arrested have links to al Qaeda and Islamic fundamentalism.