French police raid trafficked harvest workers

An organised crime gang suspected of exploiting more than 160 vineyard workers in France has been dismantled following police raids, according to Europol.

Four suspected members of the gang were arrested following the raids, which involved more than 80 investigators from Bulgaria and France, following a probe into human trafficking for labour exploitation and money laundering.

Police had identified 167 possible victims working for four wine companies based near to Lyon. Europol did not name any companies involved but said workers were recruited in Bulgaria via a legally registered employment agency, which offered them €60 per day plus housing and transport for seasonal work in France. They were sent to France in unlicensed transport and then put up on a campsite with money taken out of their wages for meals. The workers’ final salaries were often not enough to even cover their trip back to Bulgaria.

‘The network used this money and laundered it through properties in France,’ said Europol, which helped to co-ordinate the operation between Bulgarian and French forces.