Human trafficking. Network took victims to Spain

The victims were taken from Portugal to Spain with the promise of work, and were then kept under control “living in deplorable living and food conditions, under constant threat and coercion”. The Judicial Police and the Guardia Civil carried out a joint operation in Spain this Wednesday, during which they dismantled a network suspected of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation. Five victims, aged between 25 and 58, were also rescued.

The Judicial Police states that the “Mãos Duras” operation, carried out in the Logronho area, led to the arrest of six people — all of Portuguese nationality, as Observador knows —, “a family-based group that, in a concerted manner, had been recruiting vulnerable people in Portugal, with economic needs and in processes of social exclusion for several years”.

The suspects deceived people in vulnerable situations “with promises of well-paid employment, for later exploitation in agricultural work in various areas of Spain”.

“The suspects acted as intermediaries, together with several employers, in the supply of this type of labor, keeping the victims under control, living in deplorable housing and food conditions, under constant threat and coercion”, remaining in possession of “almost all of the proceeds earned, through the appropriation of the money that the employers gave them to pay their salaries”.

In the operation carried out in Spanish territory, which was always accompanied by the PJ, “additional evidence was collected, namely a 9 mm caliber pistol”.

The Directorate of the Judicial Police Center and the Guardia Civil of Logroño – La Rioja carried out this operation in compliance with European search and arrest warrants, issued by the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action of Castelo Branco, in conjunction with EUROJUST.

According to the investigation, two of the victims were kidnapped in Portugal at the end of last April and forced, under threat and coercion with a firearm, to travel to the place where they were later rescued.

As for the detainees, aged between 22 and 54, they will now be brought before the National Court in Madrid, for extradition to national territory.

The Judicial Police reminds that “Human Trafficking is an organized crime and is one of EUROPOL’s main priorities”.