Employees, who had responsibilities in their respective companies, are suspected of receiving gloves from the leaders of the criminal group.
In exchange, they were given when hiring “enslaved” labor, in addition to turning a blind eye to absences from an employment contract, insurance and other labor rights denied to immigrants.
There are three men, of 35, 40 and 46 year old, all residents in Beja, who convinced their bosses to preferentially employ the “employees” provided by the human trafficking network. According to Lidador NotĂcias (LN) found, investigation by the Judiciary Police (PJ) found that these three handlers also warned migrant scouts when inspections by authorities appeared. So, victims of labor exploitation who did not have an employment contract, insured or even in an irregular situation in the national territory were not transported to the workplace.
The victims are about half a thousand African immigrants, Asians and Europeans exploited in agriculture in Baixo Alentejo who were rescued, on Wednesday morning, in a mega operation by the PJ, in the counties of Cuba, Beja, Serpa and Ferreira do Alentejo. Last October they had already been rescued 30 Timorese.
Thirty-five people were arrested and taken to the Central Criminal Instruction Court., in Lisbon, where are, since the day before yesterday to be questioned by Judge Carlos Alexandre.
have between 22 and 58 years and are suspected of criminal association, human trafficking, money laundering and document forgery.
Most immigrants were recruited in their countries of origin, namely Romania, Moldavia, India, Senegal, Pakistan, Morocco and Algeria. They were promised good wages and living conditions.. But when they arrived in Portugal, they were put to work in agriculture “from sunrise to sunset” and a large part of the salary was retained by the network., who claimed to have to pay for travel from the countries of origin, accommodation and daily logistics.
three victims, who were illegally in Portugal, were found in a situation of malnutrition and taken to the Emergency Service of Hospital de Beja.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
