the criminal network, made up overwhelmingly of Romanian citizens, was organized into three groups that were connected to each other and with a composition of a familiar nature.
How the group operated, allowed him to manage the monetary income generated by the work of the exploited, mostly for their own benefit.
A practical example of this situation has to do with the family led by Madalin Ion, the man who doused his spouse with gasoline, who saw the woman, the son, the son-in-law and a brother of this, all detained in the PJ operation.
Workers exploited by the criminal network detained on Wednesday by the PJ in Beja, Cuba, Serpa and Ferreira do Alentejo, lived in a climate of fear and terror, since in addition to the physical and psychological threats they were subjected to in Portugal, their families who were in the countries of origin suffered the same type of intimidation.
With this violent behavior, the leaders and their “foremen”, avoided any type of contestation and denunciations to the authorities of the climate of slavery in which they lived, being obliged to share the houses and jobs that the group decided, often without any remuneration.
While the operation was in progress, the PJ revealed in a statement that the members of the criminal network are “strongly accused of committing crimes of criminal association, trafficking in persons, money laundering, extortion, possession of firearms and forgery of documents”, more than six dozen victims have been rescued from Romania, Moldavia. India, Senegal, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, among others, who were enticed to work in agriculture in the district of Beja and ended up being exploited.
In the case of the five Portuguese men, they are employees of companies or farms that use workers on a temporary basis and would be the link with the leaders of the network and would receive funds according to the farms that were hired.
The inquiry that is carried out by the Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DIAP) Lisbon, was led on the ground by judge Carlos Alexandre and began being investigated a year ago, following several complaints that reached the PJ.
On Wednesday at 04,00 hours, around four hundred inspectors from the National Counterterrorism Unit went to the field and carried out 65 warrants for house and non-domiciliary search and for the arrest of three and a half hundred men and women outside of flagrante delicto, aged between 22 and 58 years.
In the dark night of Beja, with the support of Air Force personnel, the operational base of the police was set up in the Parque da Cidade car park, at the north entrance of Beja, having been equipped with a blue tent with the symbol of the PJ, three metal containers, two bathrooms and a mobile unit all uncharacterized, where the victims of the criminal network were taken, to provide testimonials about the organization and ears for future memory.
The police action resulted in the seizure of a lot of documents, money, firearms and light and commercial passenger vehicles, four- and two-wheel motorcycles.
In PJ inspectors, the Authority for Working Conditions participated in the operation (ACT), the Social Security, the High Commission for Migration and the Municipal Civil Protection of Beja, who collaborated in the logistical support and referral of some of the victims.
The 35 held, six of which are Portuguese, five men and a woman, a solicitor from Cuba, began this Thursday to be heard at the Central Court of Criminal Instruction (TCIC), in Lisbon.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
