The ITSS participates in an operation together with the Civil Guard and National Police to dismantle a criminal organization dedicated to labor exploitation

Officers of the Civil Guard and of National Police de Albacete, with the collaboration of the ILabour and Social Security Inspection (ITSS), have dismantled a criminal organization that originally recruited citizens of various nationalities, in an irregular situation, who were exploited in agricultural estates in the provinces of Albacete, Alicante, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Murcia, Valencia and Zaragoza.

The so-called police operation FRANCISKAN-EVEREST, It started in July 2024 and has led to the 11 people arrested, the investigation of two others, and the Release of 322 people, of which 294 were in an irregular situation.

The modus operandi used by the criminal network consisted of capturing immigrants of Nepalese and Pakistani origin who traveled with tourist visas to countries of the Schengen territory, and once on European soil, they were transferred to Barcelona, from where they were transferred to other parts of the national territory where they were victims of labour exploitation.

These foreign citizens came to pay or generate a debt with the organization of up to 11,000 euros to obtain visas, remaining in an irregular situation once the permits for temporary stay as tourists expired.

For its criminal activities, the criminal organization was structured in different interconnected branches, one of which was dedicated to housing and exploiting foreigners in the town of Villalgordo del Júcar. In this town, the organization bought and rented houses and large agricultural buildings, in which it provided housing for immigrants, crowding them in mattresses on the ground, in unventilated areas, with few toilets, and in totally undignified and inhumane living conditions absolutely lacking the minimum conditions of hygiene and sanitation.

From this “dormitory” locality they moved their victims daily to the different work points. These trips were made in vans, some of which were travelling without meeting the proper safety conditions. As a result, a number of road accidents occurred and the fatal outcome of one of them, in which a person of Nepalese origin lost his life, has been regretted.

This powerful criminal organization used a large number of frontmen to create agricultural service companies, generating an appearance of legality that they achieved using fraudulent documentations and other complex methods of deception.

Abusive commissions and sometimes payments “at lunch”

The organization imposed harsh working conditions on the exploited, carrying out Days that sometimes arrived at 12 o'clock, charging abusive fees for commuting to workplaces, for housing they rerented and even for food provided in workplaces.

In many cases, the victims worked for the criminal organization for months. Without Receiving Any Kind of Financial Benefit, only rewarding their work with a very basic diet. In addition, if they did not meet minimum targets, or even if they fell ill, they were expelled from the lodgings leaving them at their mercy, without resources or roots, in a deplorable situation of vulnerability. The organization used violence when workers demanded money and forced them to work under coercion.

The proceedings have been made available to the Court of Instruction of the Albacetense town of La Roda, who has ordered the provisional detention without bail for six of the detainees.