Two Portuguese rescued after decades of slavery in Spain

A joint operation by the PJ and the Spanish Guardia Civil dismantled a network dedicated to human trafficking, arrested five suspects and rescued two men who had been living in a situation of labor exploitation, one of them for around 30 years. The oldest victim is 63 years old and the youngest is 53.

In one about the operation, called “Hands Free”, the PJ explains that the investigation took place in two phases, in the Burgos region, in northern Spain, and targeted a family group that, in an organized manner and over several years, recruited people in vulnerable situations in the Coimbra region, marked by economic difficulties and social exclusion.

According to , the suspects acted as intermediaries between victims and employers in the agricultural sector, providing labor for low-skilled jobs. The victims were kept under controllived in precarious hygiene and food conditions and were subject to constant coercion.

Furthermore, the suspects appropriated almost all of the salarieswithholding the money that employers gave them to pay workers, says the PJ.

The scheme went unnoticed by Spanish authorities for several years because the victims, who had “no control over their lives”, were registered with Spanish Social Security, which allowed the exploiters to draw up employment contracts. apparently cool.

During the investigations, driven by the Coimbra Regional DIAP and accompanied by the PJ, evidence was also collected, namely various documentation, and bank balances and two properties were seized.

The two victims rescued in the first phase of the operation, carried out in March 2025, had been under the control of the suspects for 30 and 15 years oldrespectively. The oldest victim was even negotiated between members of the group, as if it were a commodity.

The PJ do Centro believes that more victims were exploited by this network, which operated between Portugal and Spain. After the rescue, the two men returned to Portugal and are sheltered in an institution that supports children. victims of human trafficking.

The three detained in Spain, aged between 32 and 35 years oldwere present at the National Audiencein Madrid, for extradition to national territory. The two detained in Portugal, with 54 and 56 years oldone of whom has a criminal record for committing crimes of the same nature, will be presented to the judicial authorities in due course to apply the respective coercive measures.