Organization dedicated to the recruitment and exploitation of foreign labor in agriculture dismantled, ten arrests

Organization dedicated to the recruitment and exploitation of foreign labor in agriculture dismantled, ten arrests.

Matera, in the early hours of today's morning, inMetaponto area (Policoro, Scanzano Jonico, Pisticci and Bernalda), the soldiers of the Policoro Company and Carabinieri Labor Inspectorate Unit of Matera have executed a precautionary custody order - issued by GIP of the Court of Matera at the request of the local Prosecutor's Office - towards 10 investigated (1 in prison and 9 under house arrest), held responsible, in various capacities, for criminal association aimed at illicit intermediation and exploitation of multi-burdened labour (art. 416 paragraph 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the criminal code in conjunction with art. 3 of Law 146/2006 and 603 bis of the criminal code).

In particular, it emerged that a farmer, together with his daughter and her trustee, recruited numerous laborers abroad who, in order to obtain an employment contract, in order to make use of the so-called "flows decree", they had to correspond with a local intermediary sum of €6.000; having arrived in the Metapontino area, the laborers were housed by the organization in dilapidated structures (three of which have already been seized during the investigation), upon payment of a fee rent equal to €3 per day, where they were taken from e led into the camps by 7 corporals (all foreigners).

During the investigation it was established that the laborers carried out work performance of 8/10 hours per day, even on holidays, with peaks up to 16 hours, in front of 6 and a half hours expected by national collective bargaining. The remuneration for these services, which was below the threshold, allowed for the mere survival of the workers.

The investigation, conducted jointly by the military of Policoro Company (MT) and from Carabinieri Inspectorate Unit of Labor of Matera from July 2022 to May 2023, arises from the labourers' complaints, relating to mere delays in the payment of wages, collected by the Policoro Carabinieri during a normal territorial control service. The subsequent targeted investigations carried out also with the help of the Labor Inspectorate Unit, revealed a much more serious scenario.

The elements that led to the issuance of today's provision were collected with “traditional” methods and under the constant guidance of Public Prosecutor's Office of Matera.

The activity confirms thethe effectiveness of the organizational model of the Force where the territorial structures, present in a widespread manner, in addition to knowing how to listen and grasp the needs and anomalies of the social context, operate synergistically with the investigative and specialized components of the force present at provincial and regional level.