A criminal organization dedicated, allegedly, to trafficking in persons and its labor exploitation as agricultural storms, has been dismantled in Valencia by the National Police. In addition. The Civil Guard has put an end to a similar plot in Jaén.
In the Valencian case, the victims, of different nationalities, resided mandatory in an abandoned hotel in Sagunto, In bad living conditions and lacking water to ensure. The workers, who They had no residence and work permission, were forced to collect citrus for long working days.
The victims were mostly not registered in Social Security and received A salary tin, much lower than other workers. The operation has resulted in five people arrested and the release of nine victims.
Police investigation began in April 2024, when a criminal group dedicated to the labor exploitation of foreign citizens in the citrus collection campaign was discovered in the province of Valencia. In 2025, the presence of the criminal group was detected again, so police investigation is reactivated and discovered how The storms resided in an abandoned hotel on the periphery of Sagunto, from which they were transferred to the work farms in old vans that lacked insurance and ITV.
Four detainees in Jaén for labor exploitation
At the same time, in Jaén, four people have been arrested and two others investigated for their alleged belonging to a criminal organization that exploited foreign workers in an irregular situation.
The detainees are charged crimes of favoring irregular immigrationcrimes against rights of foreign citizens, against the workers’ rights, It deals with human beings, money laundering and counterfeit public document.
-The investigation began when the Civil Guard was aware of a considerable increase in Algerian citizens, who were in an irregular situation, coinciding with periods of collection of the olive, in the Jiennense town of Villanueva del Arzobispo. The agents discovered that the criminals had homes where they housed migrants under conditions of overcrowding and unhealthiness.
The organization facilitated work to these people through entrepreneurs in the area who owned the homes used and carried out labor, transportation, collection of bureaucratic rentals and procedures with the administration, with respect to the victims.
As explained by the Armed Institute, the organization He charged the victims money For the rental of homes, job search, transportation and access to public procedures to obtain documentation that supposedly regulates its situation in Spain. The victims They came to pay 2,000 euros for registration and up to 5,000 euros for contracts fraudulent work.
Irregular migrants went to this organization under promises to obtain better living conditions and permanent use. They assured them to obtain residence permits and work in Spain, as well as the regularization of the rest of their relatives for roots.
The victims were transferred to isolated work areas, without any contract and salaries well below the stipulated, prohibiting them at all times to speak or they will relate With other Spanish entrepreneurs.
This operation is part of the objectives set by the Civil Guard in its strategic plan, specifically the integral struggle against irregular immigration networks and the control of irregular migratory flows.
