Authorities have detained six suspects in a human trafficking operation targeting labor exploitation in Logroño, Spain. The operation, dubbed ‘Mãos Duras,’ was initiated on June 11 by the Central Directorate of the Judiciary Police in coordination with the Central Department of Criminal Investigation (DIAP) in Castelo Branco and the collaboration of Spain’s Guardia Civil, aiming to dismantle the criminal group.
The Judiciary Police described the group as a family-based operation consisting of five men and one woman, aged between 22 and 54. For several years, they have been recruiting vulnerable individuals from Portugal, particularly those in economic distress and social exclusion, with false promises of lucrative jobs, only to exploit them in agricultural work in various parts of Spain.
The detainees were presented for interrogation at the Criminal Instruction Tribunal in Castelo Branco. Three of the suspects were remanded in custody, one was placed under house arrest with electronic surveillance, and two were required to make regular court appearances and prohibited from contacting the victims.
The Judiciary Police further noted that two of the victims were abducted in Portugal in late April of the previous year and were coerced, under threat and with a firearm, into traveling to the location where they were eventually rescued.
The operation led to the rescue of five victims, aged between 25 and 58, and the seizure of evidence, including a 9mm caliber firearm.
The group acted as labor brokers for employers, keeping victims under their control and subjecting them to appalling living and nutritional conditions. The victims were constantly threatened and coerced, and the group appropriated nearly all the profits by taking the money employers provided for wages.
