Spain Dismantles Criminal Organization That Offered False Employment Contracts for Immigrants to Work on Farms
In a statement issued yesterday, January 15, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior emphasised that the criminal network managed to provide false documentation for other foreign nationals so that they could work on farms, avoiding detection of their identity from employers, security forces and bodies, and labour inspectors, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
“They managed the registration of irregular immigrants in homes to later regularise their situation in the national territory through an arraigo procedure. During the time when the migrants remained in an irregular situation, the organisation guarded the documentation used in said frauds and that they used to carry out the registrations in the social security, mainly in agricultural tasks,” the statement reads.
According to the Ministry, the suspected persons were all charged commissions for documentary efforts to regulate their situation by managing a contract with the payment of amounts between €8,000 to €12,000.
In addition, each of the migrants had to pay a rent of €150 to €200 for the house, while another additional amount was deducted from their wages for the work they did in their fieldwork.
The people who were part of this organisation are reported to have used violence or intimidation against migrants who refused to work for them or did not pay the money they demanded. As a result of these attacks, some of the victims have even suffered injuries.
Moreover, the Ministry said that the operation to dismantle this organisation began in September of last year in collaboration with the Civil Guard and Labor Inspections and Social Security of the provinces of Albacete and Cuenca.
During the investigation, agents conducted three raids in Madrigueras, where they seized documentation related to fraudulent registrations, leases, irregular employment contracts, and evidence of transactions made through money transfer companies.
The Civil Guard also found and arrested a member of the organisation in one of the registered houses, which the courts have announced wanted since 2018. At the same time, during the controls, a clandestine weapons workshop was also discovered, where several weapons were seized, including here large blades, like katanas, swords, daggers, as well as machetes or air guns.
