Spanish police identified over 300 potential victims of a migrant labor trafficking scheme during a raid. 11 gang members were arrested and authorities say more arrests are possible. The raid underlines that migrants, in this case Nepalis, are being targeted and trafficked to Spain and Europe more broadly as part of a growing web of labor exploitation schemes.  

The very definition of modern slavery 

They entered on a tourist visa and were then bussed out to rural areas to do agricultural work. According to police, the Nepali migrants found on a recent raid were being forced to live in “slavery-like” conditions. Many were working illegal 12-hour days for paltry wages. Even worse, sometimes they were working for no wages at all.  

Spanish police told Infomigrants and journalists:  

The migrants found were packed into poorly ventilated rooms, some of them sleeping on the floor, but still being charged ‘excessive fees’ for rent, transport and food. 

Police also shared that the migrants had limited access to bathrooms and described “living conditions that were completely undignified and inhumane.” By the survivor’s accounts, at least one Nepalese man is believed to have died. The vans used to transport the workers lacked basic safety standards, police said. The worker who was killed died during one of several reported accidents involving the unsafe vans.  

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