Police in southern Italy smashed a crime ring on Tuesday which specialised in bogus marriages between Chinese women and Italian men.
Some 30 Italian and Chinese suspects, including several women, were arrested in and around the port city of Bari on the Italian heel.
Prosecutors said the suspects paid Italian men 5,000 euros to get married in China so that their brides could then come to Italy and work.
Once in Italy, the women were forced to pay the criminal organisation back 15-20,000 euros, the prosecutors said.
They said they had evidence of at least 20 fake marriages carried out in China.
The suspects face charges of favouring illegal immigration, fraud, theft and extortion.
