ROME _ Published reports say Italian police have shut down a circus after allegations that Bulgarian teenage sisters were forced to perform in tanks full of piranhas and snakes.

The Italian dailies Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica say a 19-year-old woman was forced to swim in a tank filled with freezing water to keep the piranhas lethargic, while her 16-year-old sister was covered with snakes and tarantulas.

The newspapers say police acted on a tip from a spectator and arrested three suspects at a circus near Naples on Sunday night.

La Repubblica says the three are accused of holding the Bulgarians in slavery, kidnapping and human trafficking.

The sisters are part of a family that was employed in the circus.

According to the reports, the family lived in a truck infested with cockroaches and was forced to work 15-20 hours a day for $155 a week instead of the agreed $747. The reports say the difference was going to a Bulgarian intermediary.

INDEX: INTERNATIONAL© 2007 The Canadian Press