Criminals involved in migrant trafficking with the immigration decrees

The Carabinieri for the Protection of Labor are engaged in an operation against migrant trafficking.

CHIETI - Carabinieri from the Chieti Labor Inspectorate (Nil), acting on behalf of the L'Aquila District Anti-Mafia Directorate, have executed a precautionary measure against a Bangladeshi citizen, the leader of a criminal organization dedicated to "migrant trafficking" through the fraudulent use of the so-called "flow decrees." At dawn on Monday, November 3, 2025, the Carabinieri, with operational support from the provincial commands of Pescara, L'Aquila, and Teramo, on behalf of the L'Aquila Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA), executed a precautionary detention order issued by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations at the L'Aquila court against a forty-five-year-old Bangladeshi man. At the same time, they served a notice of conclusion of the preliminary investigation against 19 individuals, all seriously suspected of criminal conspiracy to commit an unspecified series of crimes related to illegal immigration, attempted extortion, and robbery.

Fictitious employment contracts and companies created for "click days"

The judicial orders were issued based on the findings of a complex investigative effort conducted by the Chieti Nil military unit, who, under the coordination of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate, shed light on a criminal syndicate—operating since 2022 in Pescara and other towns in Abruzzo, with branches in Puglia and Campania—that, by fraudulently using the so-called "flow decrees," managed to smuggle several hundred non-EU citizens, primarily from Bangladesh, into Italy by crafting fictitious job offers to obtain Italian entry visas , or by falsifying the visas themselves. The disjointed organization was structured on multiple levels and relied on: compliant entrepreneurs willing to arrange fictitious employment contracts or companies created for the "click days"; professionals who handled the necessary documentation to validate the entry requests through the flow decrees; of intermediaries, some of which operate in Bangladesh, responsible for recruiting foreign citizens and arranging their arrival in Italy, often for a fee and with makeshift accommodations.

Businessmen provided foreign citizens with false documents to enter Italy.

The illicit profits from managing immigration procedures are estimated at over €3 million, as each of the foreigners allowed to enter Italy illegally paid very large sums; it is no coincidence that some suspects described the system as a veritable "goldmine." During the investigation, in July 2024, Carabinieri from the Chieti Nil unit conducted an operation in Pescara, catching two entrepreneurs in the act of handing out false documents to foreign citizens for payment to enter Italy. The foreigner subject to the precautionary measure performed organizational and liaison functions with foreign countries, including traveling to identify compatriots willing to enter Italy. In one incident, in order to recover the sums demanded, he also threatened and assaulted a compatriot. Given the seriousness and timeliness of the precautionary measures, the man was remanded in custody and taken to the Pescara prison. Despite serious evidence of guilt, the precautionary measures against the other 19 suspects are not currently required. The Carabinieri Labor Protection Command has been engaged for years in combating the facilitation of illegal immigration throughout the country, a phenomenon closely linked to labor exploitation. The Italian criminal justice system is governed by the presumption of innocence until a final sentence has been passed. This presumption is based on Article 27 of the Italian Constitution, which states that a person "is not considered guilty until a final sentence has been passed."

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