The National Police has arrested two people as top officials of an organization that exploited foreign citizens in companies and agricultural holdings in Dos Hermanas (Seville), who were not registered and who worked semi-barefoot or in flip-flops and with a break for just ten minutes to drink water.
In the operation there is a third person who has been investigated as the organization’s top officials, who are accused of a crime against workers’ rights, the police reported in a statement this Tuesday.
The investigation began when the National Police learned that a crime against workers’ rights could be being committed on a farm in the Sevillian town of Dos Hermanas.
The agents, together with the Provincial Labor Inspection, verified that there was a group of about 40 people on the farm who, upon realizing the police presence, fled across the countryside, although they were finally caught up by the agents.
It was then possible to verify that these 37 people were proceeding to harvest the olives in terrible working conditions, with the majority of them being semi-barefoot with socks or flip-flops, without a work contract or registration with Social Security.
They stated that their day began at 06:00 in the morning when they were picked up in different vehicles and taken to the farm without knowing the place of work or its conditions until the last moment; continuing their day without rest until 6:00 p.m. with just 10 minutes to drink water and eat something while they were being watched by the “handlers” of the crew.
The agents were able to verify that of the 37 people who made up this group, 33 were foreign citizens and seventeen of them were in an irregular situation in Spanish territory.
As a result of this first phase of the operation, the investigation continued, in which two people were finally arrested, who were in charge of hiring personnel, along with an investigated person, owner of the property, as responsible for a crime against workers’ rights.
