Adam Husicka
EIGHTEEN men from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia have been rescued from an illegal tobacco factory in Andalucia, where they were forced to roll up to eight million counterfeit cigarettes a day under inhumane conditions.
On Tuesday, the Guardia Civil announced the rescue after uncovering the operation while investigating suspected drug smuggling at a warehouse in Malaga.
What they found instead was a group of exploited migrants living and working in three secret factories in Malaga, Cordoba, and Sevilla.
The victims had all arrived through Malaga Airport, lured by fake promises of well-paid construction jobs.
Instead, they were taken directly to secret warehouses where they were forced to work 12-hour shifts without pay, supposedly to repay a fabricated “debt”.
They lived and worked in the same place, crammed into overcrowded spaces with no access to proper sanitation, and no sunlight.
Conditions were described by authorities as inhumane.
A total of 21 people have been arrested over human trafficking, fraud against the Spanish tax agency, tobacco smuggling, intellectual property violations, and belonging to a criminal organisation.
The operation, worth over €3 million, allegedly defrauded the tax office of up to €2 million a day. All of the material in the factory was seized by authorities.
The criminal network has been dismantled, but the Guardia Civil continues to investigate.
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