Italy arrests drug traffickers who used migrants as couriers, police say

ROME, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Twenty-seven people have been arrested in a pan-European raid against two drug trafficking groups, one of which used migrants as couriers, Italy's Carabinieri police said on Wednesday.

The suspects were taken in for drug offences in Italy, Albania and Spain, the Carabinieri said, adding that 20 of them were remanded in custody and seven placed under house arrest.

One group, led by Nigerians, used young Nigerian asylum seekers or refugees to transport marijuana across Italy and Europe, the police statement said.

A long-distance bus terminal near Rome's Tiburtina train station was "used as a national and international sorting centre for drug trafficking", it added.

The couriers had been recruited from a migrant reception centre on the outskirts of Rome used as a depot for drugs.

The second group, led by Albanians, was said to import marijuana to Italy, using fast boats across the Adriatic, to sell it on to Nigerian traffickers.

Some of the Albanian suspects were also charged with aggravated extortion against Nigerian buyers who were late with their drug payments, police said.