Marrakech – In a major operation spanning the Spanish provinces of Murcia and Albacete, the Guardia Civil (Spanish civil guard) has uncovered an elaborate scheme that defrauded and exploited hundreds of temporary workers from Morocco and Senegal, according to reports from Spanish media outlets Onda Regional de Murcia (ORM) and El País.
The operation, dubbed “Bomvoyage,” resulted in the arrest of 13 individuals and the investigation of six others, all believed to be part of an international criminal organization.
The scheme, which took advantage of the Collective Management of Contracts at Origin (GECCO) program, involved charging workers in their home countries between 4,000 and 6,000 euros for the opportunity to work in Spain.
Once the workers arrived in Spain, they were subjected to grueling working conditions and illegal salary deductions, leaving them with a mere 200 euros per month, according to the Guardia Civil.
The organization also offered the workers the option to stay in Spain illegally after their contracts ended, charging them an additional 4,000 to 12,000 euros to “regularize” their administrative status.
ORM reports that the criminal organization had a network of facilitators in Senegal and Morocco who enjoyed an “untarnished reputation” with public authorities, allowing them to manipulate the selection process.
The workers were then exploited on farms in Hellín, Albacete, and forced to sign documents they did not understand, enabling the organization to profit from commissions on banking and telecom services.
El País further details that the scheme involved inflating the prices of isolated, disused hotel facilities and farms where the workers were housed in order to obtain higher public subsidies.
The Spanish civil guard estimates that over 300 cases of fraud have been detected in the past three years, with the criminal organization profiting over half a million euros.
The investigation began in late summer 2023 when agents noticed that more than half of the 250 foreign workers contracted through GECCO had not returned to their countries and remained in Spain illegally.
Raids conducted on June 10 and 20 led to the arrests of key figures in the organization, including the director of the agricultural operation and two businessmen from Senegal and Morocco.
The Guardia Civil has blocked several financial products, including 15 bank accounts, some with large balances. Sources close to the investigation suggest that more arrests may follow as the abundant documentary evidence is analyzed.
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