A married couple arrested for exploiting a woman in "semi-slavery"

Already deceived from her home country, Paraguay, she moved to Spain with the promise of a job contract with an income that would support her and her family. This is how a woman was captured and exploited by a married couple for three years in conditions of "semi-slavery." But she received nothing of a better life and an income that would support her. Quite the opposite: several years of labor exploitation, and then sexual exploitation .

This was the case until agents from the National Police's Immigration Networks and Document Forgery Unit (UCRIF) detected a victim transported to Valladolid under false pretenses to force him to work in two hospitality establishments for marathon shifts and a salary that he had to give largely to his "employers" to settle the alleged debt.

Once settled in the capital of the Pisuerga River, a group managed to recruit and persuade a woman in Paraguay with the promise of decent work in the hospitality industry if she moved to Spain. They did so by taking advantage of "her extreme financial need" and "hiding her true working conditions." Upon arrival, the woman found work under "semi-slavery" conditions and was "forced" to pay a supposed debt of 3,000 euros for tickets to cross the Atlantic, "despite having been informed that her trip would be financed from Paraguay," according to the National Police. She ended up paying up to 12,000 euros, four times the initial amount claimed.

She first worked at a bar run by a fellow countryman of the couple, where the couple also worked, which gave them a "privileged position" for controlling her. She worked 50 hours a week for 300 euros a month , of which she had to pay the couple 250 for the room they provided her. She was left with only 50 euros a month to subsist on, and from that initial idea of ​​sending some money back home, nothing came of it.

Over time, the traffickers took over the premises and encouraged the woman to continue working for them with the promise of improving her situation and increasing her pay. They partially did so, although the victim's ordeal continued and only escalated. She began working up to 73 hours a week for €1,000 a month. However, as soon as she received the envelope containing the money, she had to give the woman €600 to "pay off" the debt. Of the remaining €400, €250 was to be used to pay for her room, leaving her with €150 a month for herself and her family.

The "control" escalated, to the point that, thanks to the isolation and economic dependence she had fallen into, the man took advantage of the victim's "vulnerable" situation to sexually exploit her, also with the false promise of a work contract. With this promise, which was never fulfilled, she agreed to his demands and ended up having regular sexual relations with the man for over a year, "motivated only" by this contract "that never came" so she could regularize her situation in Spain and look for another job.

A situation that lasted up to three years. The couple and a third person have already been arrested . The couple, released after testifying before a judge, are accused of human trafficking and violations of workers' rights. Another person was also arrested for the latter, but released after being taken to the police station.