Italian police have said that an international ring that conspired to kidnap children involved in custody battles have dismantled.

According to a source, those involved were Special Forces veterans whose commando-style tactics "put the child's life at risk".

Source further revealed that they charged tens of thousands of dollars for the abductions from North Africa to Europe using high-speed boats.

Those arrested have been named as Luigi Cannistraro, Antonio Barazza, Sebastiano Calabrese and a former Ukrainian sailing champion, Larysa Moskalenko.

 Two Norwegians and a Swede named as Elisabeth Wenche Adresen, Martin Vage and Per Ake Helgesson respectively are also being held in Tunisia.

A police report said the group carried out its first operation in October last year when a child was abducted in Tunisia, and taken to Norway via Sicily.

A second operation was also carried out in November but was foiled by police who intercepted the phone calls of Ms Moskalenko's sailing venture in Palermo.

Further operations have been planned in Cyprus, Lebanon and Egypt.