Five foreign members of the alleged association arrested. Dozens of foreigners have been recruited to work on various farms and in the vineyards of well-known wineries in the province of Cagliari.
At dawn today, the State Police dismantled an alleged criminal association that recruited foreign citizens guests of the Extraordinary Reception Center of Monastir (CA), to make them work illegally in some farms in the province.
The Flying Squad of Cagliari carried out five arrests of crime suspects against as many Pakistani citizens, living in Cagliari, all with residence permits in Italy, under investigation for having established and organized a criminal association aimed at illicit intermediation and exploitation of illegal work, with violation of national contracts and workplace safety regulations.
Another Pakistani citizen, who allegedly acted as a driver for the organisation, was investigated while at liberty as a participant in the criminal conspiracy.
Every morning, those arrested took foreigners from the CAS and took them to work in some farms in the province, which exploited them by giving them a wage of 5 euros an hour. Sometimes the workers also had to provide food for the day.
There are 12 owners of agricultural companies and wineries under investigation who are at liberty because they allegedly used labour, subjecting workers to exploitative conditions and taking advantage of their state of need.
A total of 60 men from the Flying Squad, the Abbasanta Crime Prevention Department and the Cagliari Mobile Department were involved in the operation.