National Police arrested in Mallorca three peopletwo men and a woman, for exploit delivery people those who were forced to work in extreme conditions with working days of 12 hours per day seven days a week.
As reported by the Higher Headquarters of the Balearic Islands through a press release, they are accused of the crimes of trafficking in human beings for economic exploitationcriminal organization, against workers’ rights, falsification of documents and threats.
The UCRIF IV Group of the National Police received information from a foreign person who alerted about these events. After an investigation that lasted four months, officers managed to identify a organized criminal group dedicated to recruit workers in Colombia for their labor exploitation in Spain.
This organization took advantage of the precarious economic situation of the victims in their country of origin to transfer them to Mallorca under false promises of employment.
On the island, victims were given an additional user account for a home delivery company, where they worked in extreme conditions with a 12-hour working day, seven days a week, pay them three euros an hour. Additionally, through coercion and deception, the gang retained most of its income.
To maintain this situation of semi-slaverycriminals took advantage of the irregular situation of workers. They did not formalize any employment contract nor did they offer health coverage.leaving them completely helpless. In addition, the organization provided money to transport victims to Spain, instructing them on how to behave and what to report at police checkpoints.
Upon their arrival in Spain, the victims were forced to cut all contact with their family and delete their presence on social networkswith the aim of isolating them. They lived in deplorable conditions: four people shared a room, sleeping on mattresses on the floor.
The workers were transferred to Incawhere they were assigned a motorbike to make deliveries. A member of the organization was responsible for managing and controlling the company’s additional accounts. Victims had to contact him in the event of incidents to unblock their accounts and be able to continue their exhausting day.
Prison for the leader of the organization
The leader of the group was known for his violent character. At the slightest suspicion of a possible police investigation, he would pressure victims to return to their country of origin or, in some cases, evict them from their homes, or even leaving families with children without resources. Its goal was to achieve total dependence on the victims, isolating them from any type of family or social support.
For his part, another respondent was responsible for the logistics of distribution and control of working hours, while the third respondent managed the organization’s bank accounts and acquired the vehicles used in the field.
Once the investigation was completed, agents of UCRIF IV of the National Police proceeded last Wednesday, a police operation during which three people were arrested as alleged perpetrators of the events: one of the arrests took place in Inca and the other two in Palma.
Likewise, the fleet of vehicles used in the exploitation of work, four motorcycles and a car, was seized, for which there was the collaboration of the Local Police of Inca, which took charge of the vehicles, seized in the municipal depot.
The alleged perpetrators were brought to justice yesterday, where Pre-trial detention was ordered against the ringleader.
