Finance
Spanish police break up gang accused of forcing migrants into slave-like work
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 4, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 4, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Spanish police dismantled a crime ring exploiting migrants in slave-like conditions on farms, identifying over 300 victims.
MADRID, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Spanish police have dismantled a crime ring accused of bringing in hundreds of foreign migrants irregularly to work at farms across eastern Spain in what the Interior Ministry described as inhumane, slave-like conditions.
Officers have arrested 11 people and identified more than 300 potential victims, many of them from Nepal, the police said in a statement. They had entered the Schengen area on tourist visas before being taken to rural areas in provinces such as Alicante, Valencia and Zaragoza.
Police also seized cash, forged documents and phones in raids in the southeastern Albacete province.
Migrants were packed into poorly ventilated rooms, sleeping on the floor and paying excessive fees for rent, transport and even food, police said.
Some worked up to 12 hours a day and, in many cases, received no wages at all — conditions that rights groups typically characterise as forced labour.
At least one Nepalese man died in one of several accidents involving vans used to transport the migrants despite lacking basic safety standards, police said.
(Reporting by Jesus Calero, editing by Andrei Khalip and Ed Osmond)
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of people for exploitation or commercial gain. It often involves coercion, deception, or abuse of power, and can include forced labor, sexual exploitation, and involuntary servitude.
Financial crime refers to illegal activities that result in financial gain, such as fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement. These crimes can have significant impacts on individuals, businesses, and the economy.
Immigration is the process through which individuals move to a foreign country with the intention of residing there permanently or temporarily. It can involve various legal processes and requirements.
Labor rights are the legal rights and protections afforded to workers, including the right to fair wages, safe working conditions, and the ability to organize and bargain collectively.
Criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions that uphold social control, deter and mitigate crime, and sanction those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.
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