Italy Arrests Hundreds Of Suspected Illegal Immigrants, Deports 118

Rome, Italy (AHN) - Italian police arrested 383 people on Thursday and deported 118, most of them foreigners from North Africa and Romania suspected of being illegal immigrants.

Suspected illegal immigrants from elsewhere in Eastern Europe, Greece and China were also among the 268 foreigners arrested, according to reports.

Officials said that 111 of the people detained were charged with aiding illegal immigrants or violating police regulations.

However, immigration wasn't the only issue: 92 of the 111 were also suspected drug traffickers and police seized cocaine, heroin and marijuana in the operation, according to Italy's ADN Kronos International news.

The roundup is viewed as Italy's new conservative government making good on election promises to crackdown on illegal immigrants that many Italians view as a major source of crime in the country.

According to reports, the biggest source of trouble is coming from illegal immigrants from Eastern European Roma gypsies primarily from Romania, although Italy has tried to reassure its European Union partner that citizens from its country are not being targeted.