The National Police have arrested 23 men in Torre Pacheco (Murcia), aged between 20 and 50, for their alleged involvement in a network that exploited agricultural workers in an irregular situation. According to sources from the Corps in a statement, they falsified documentation and usurped the identity of other people.
Among those arrested are four people allegedly responsible for exploiting workers whom they passed off as other workers with legal documentation in Spain to avoid mandatory controls by the authorities.
The investigation began after receiving a complaint from a foreign person reporting that he had been registered with a company for which he had never worked.
The first investigations by the agents made it possible to verify the complaint, in addition to finding out that other people who were in an irregular situation in the country had worked in three companies, impersonating other workers with residence and work permits.
The efforts made it possible to identify and arrest those responsible, four men with family ties between them, in charge of the employees and of recruiting people in an irregular situation, and, in turn, providing them with documentation, apparently without the knowledge of the owners of the companies. companies, charging them with crimes against workers' rights, document falsification and usurpation of civil status.
With all the information obtained, a police and labor inspection was carried out together with the Provincial Labor and Social Security Inspection of Murcia, which culminated in the arrest of ten people, all of them in an irregular situation, who allegedly usurped the identity of other workers from abroad.
In a second part of the operation, nine other people were arrested who had given up their personal documentation so that they could access the labor market with the help of those responsible for recruiting workers.
As a result of this investigation, numerous crimes have been clarified that cause clear damage to Social Security, thus benefiting both parties involved.
The worker without a work permit and legal residence can access the labor market and other social rights, and the worker who sells or transfers his or her documentation obtains an economic benefit, apart from the days of contributions without working, with the benefit what it entails to obtain future benefits for work not performed.
Finally, the detainees – originally from Ecuador, Senegal, Paraguay, Morocco, Gambia, Burquina Faso and Spain – were released pending trial. They are alleged to have been responsible for crimes against workers' rights, favoring illegal immigration, usurpation of civil status and document falsification.
