La Roda, Spain – Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional have dismantled an international criminal organization that brought foreign citizens into Spain irregularly and forced them into labor on agricultural estates across several eastern provinces.

The joint operation, codenamed “FRANCISKAN-EVEREST,” began in July 2024 with support from the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate in Albacete and Cuenca. It resulted in 11 arrests and two additional individuals under investigation for offences including facilitating irregular migration and illicit labor trafficking. Officers assisted 322 foreign nationals, 294 of whom were in an irregular situation, most originally from Nepal.

The network used tourist visas to move migrants into the Schengen area before sending them across Spain to farms in Albacete, Alicante, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Murcia, Valencia and Zaragoza, where their labor rights were systematically violated.

One branch of the network operated in Villalgordo del Júcar (Albacete), where victims were housed in overcrowded, unventilated spaces with mattresses on floors, scarce toilets and living conditions described as undignified and inhuman. Workers were transported daily in vans, some lacking basic safety requirements. Multiple traffic accidents occurred, including one that killed a Nepalese worker.

The organization imposed harsh conditions: shifts lasting up to 12 hours, abusive commissions for transport, sublet housing and even food provided at the work sites. Many migrants worked for months without receiving pay, surviving only on basic meals.

In the operation’s final phase, nine searches were carried out in Villalgordo del Júcar and La Roda. Officers seized cash, chequebooks, mobile phones, computer equipment, fraudulent documents, work records and clandestine accounting, along with 12 vehicles, two of them high-end. Several bank accounts controlled by the organization were frozen.

The dismantling of the network left victims in a vulnerable position due to lack of roots and resources. Authorities worked with the Embassy of Nepal in Spain, cultural mediators, Nepalese associations and the Spanish Red Cross to provide food, warm clothing and alternative housing for the most at-risk individuals. The Government Subdelegation in Albacete is assisting with efforts to regularize their legal status.

Many migrants have been relocated to areas where they have community ties, and investigations continue to determine whether additional crimes were committed. The detainees and case file were placed at the disposal of the Court of Instruction in La Roda, which ordered provisional detention without bail for six suspects. Further arrests have not been ruled out.

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