A 34-year-old Ethiopian man has been arrested here in northern Italy on charges of human trafficking.

Michel Amane Teklehaimanot was taken into custody on a warrant issued in the Calabrian city of Crotone. Investigators there believe he organised a system to illegally bring North Africans through Egypt and Libya to Italy and Europe.

He is also suspected of helping illegal immigrants to escape from a temporary detention center in Capo Rizzuto, Calabria.

Investigators said the Ethiopian charged each escapee 400 euros.