Two men aged 57 and 37 have been detained by the National Police as suspected perpetrators of a crime against workers’ rights and foreign nationals, alongside charges of promoting illegal immigration. One man is Moroccan and the other Spanish; they are accused of recruiting and exploiting migrants, particularly vulnerable individuals, at a finca in Beniel, a town in the Murcia region.
This is not the first time law enforcement has encountered them. In 2021, the same property was investigated for the same issue, revealing labor exploitation of foreign workers who, due to their precarious personal circumstances, agreed to abusive conditions. Investigators found that the workers were offered a fraudulent path to regularize their status after three years.
New information collected has allowed the National Police to reopen the case and confirm that the finca owner resumed the activity. Workers living illegally were subjected to daily shifts of up to 12 hours, seven days a week, without proper employment registration or contracts, earning roughly 700 euros monthly.
Many workers lived in overcrowded dormitories within a warehouse on the property and were charged rent between 100 and 150 euros, deducted from their wages.
Pushing for a contract up front was a key tactic. The owner promised to regularize the workers’ status in three years, but required an advance payment of 3,500 euros to process the employment contract.
Following a further inspection carried out with the collaboration of the Beniel Local Police and members of the Murcia Provincial Labor and Social Security Inspectorate, the two men were arrested for the crimes described above.
They have been handed over to the judiciary for the appropriate precautionary measures to be taken.