Ten members of the National Republican Guard (GNR) and a Public Security Police (PSP) officer were arrested this Tuesday morning during an operation by the Judicial Police (PJ) on suspicion of exploiting and enslaving immigrants.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, the PJ clarified that it carried out Operation Safra Justa to execute approximately 50 search warrants and 17 arrest warrants in Beja, Portalegre, Figueira da Foz, and Porto.
“At issue,” explained the authority, “is a criminal organization that controlled hundreds of foreign workers, the majority of whom were in an irregular situation in Portugal.”
The PJ reveals that, “through temporary employment companies created for this purpose,” the criminal network “took advantage” of the immigrants’ vulnerability “by exploiting them, charging for housing and food, and keeping them under coercion through threats, with even episodes of physical harm.”
“Among those detained are 10 GNR military personnel and one Public Security Police member, suspected of facilitating the actions of the criminal group,” continues the PJ.
The detainees are charged with “crimes of aiding illegal immigration, forgery, tax fraud, and money laundering,” the latter two due to illicit and undeclared profits derived from slave labor.
The investigation into this network has been ongoing for “several months,” with the Judicial Police conducting various efforts that “allowed the collection of incriminating evidence and the identification of the overall operation of this violent mafia-style group.”
The news was first reported by CNN Portugal, which described how the military personnel, during their free hours, acted as overseers of this criminal association, supervising the work of the immigrants. The foreigners reportedly lived in subhuman conditions with little income and under constant surveillance.
The operation was carried out by the PJ’s Counterterrorism Unit, supported by personnel from other areas of this authority, and with “the collaboration and support of the GNR.”
The detainees will also be presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP).
In a statement published online by the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP), the MP stated that the suspects are being investigated for “taking advantage of the precarious (documentary, social, and economic) situation of citizens from third countries, most of whom are undocumented, to derive significant economic advantages.”
According to the MP, these citizens “were willing to work without a formalized contract” and received “remuneration below the market rate for the tasks” to be performed “in labor-intensive sectors, such as agriculture.”
[Updated at 11:37 AM]
