Agents of the National Police have dismantled in the province of Cuenca a criminal network allegedly dedicated to labor exploitation in the agricultural field.
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They operated from a food store in a Cuenca municipality to attract foreign citizens in a situation of need or vulnerability. During the investigation, a 15-year-old minor who was exploited at work has been released and a total of eight people have been arrested, including the three leaders of the organization.
The investigation began during the month of November of last year when the agents received a complaint from a citizen who had been fraudulently registered with social security.
The investigators were able to verify that the complainant had been registered for a company in which he was not working and after several investigations, they detected that in a municipality in the province of Cuenca the documentation of foreigners in a regular situation was being used by other companies. who lacked residence and work permits.
The investigations revealed the existence of a criminal organization, made up of a married couple and one of their children, who recruited foreigners from a food establishment to exploit them for labor in agricultural tasks. They were integrated into crews supervised by the organization to provide labor to the owners of different rustic farms in up to nine Cuenca municipalities.
They were also able to verify that the network forced workers to sign false documentation, taking advantage of their precarious situation, also taking part of their salary and exploiting them during long hours of work in extreme conditions.
Among the people exploited was a 15-year-old minor who was subjected to disproportionate working hours that prevented his schooling. During the operation, five people were arrested as allegedly responsible for a crime of false documents and the three leaders of the organization, in addition, the crimes of usurpation of civil status, belonging to a criminal organization and crime against the rights of workers. ■