Moscow: Police find underground city of illegal immigrants

The Moscow police discovered an "underground city" that housed illegal immigrants in the west of Moscow. Officials say it is a bomb shelter that was turned into housing by owners of an illegal factory.

The discovery was made by officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB, the Russian acronym) and the Federal Immigration Service. According to authorities, the "City" is inhabited by illegal immigrants from Central Asia.

"One hundred and ten men and women were found living in underground area, which was sheltered by a concrete wall 4 feet tall and barbed wire," Mishel said Andrei, a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry.

"The areas inhabited had bathrooms, bedrooms, and rooms for prayer," said the spokesman.

According to authorities, people who lived there worked in the production of blades and needles for sewing machines.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said that the entrance to the accommodation was found within the premises of an abandoned factory.

The region still beyond this factory, a military technology industry that produces missile systems S-300 and S-400.

Most residents irregular runs the risk of being deported. Sixteen of them, as the factory owner should be prosecuted for criminal activity.

OTHER "Underground City"

Similar accommodations were discovered in February, down from the train station Kievsky, in Moscow. The occupants of the site were also illegal immigrants.

Reports said they worked for a company responsible for cleaning the station area. As a result, more than 30 cases of administrative violations were imposed on the firm.

In March, the Federal Migration Service has also discovered an underground sausage factory, which employed more than 30 immigrants from Tajikistan and Moldova.

The workers were not officially registered in Moscow and lived in the factory, sleeping on wooden beds made by themselves.

According to the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, the Russian capital has about 250,000 legal immigrants, plus millions of illegals.

Last year, after a series of lawsuits, about 10 000 illegal immigrants were deported by the Russian government.