Police in Spain have broken up a gang they say ran three illegal tobacco factories where Ukrainian refugees worked in poor conditions.
The operations were carried out in three regions of Spain and 27 people have been arrested.
The gang is accused of smuggling large quantities of tobacco by converting it into fake cigarettes.
These factories could produce more than half a million packs of cigarettes per day, which were sold in Spain and abroad.
Police said the Ukrainians, who had fled Russia’s invasion of their country, were living in “shacks” in prefabricated shelters inside the factories.
They were working long hours and not going out to avoid detection, as some had entered the country illegally.
Meanwhile, the organization’s owners enjoyed a “life of luxury,” allegedly laundering money for tobacco-trafficking operations.
Authorities seized €37.5m ($41m; £33m) worth of tobacco products, luxury vehicles, jewelery and large amounts of cash during the raids. More than 20 houses, industrial buildings and shops were searched.
The first clandestine factory was found in late 2021 in a chicken shed near Seville in the south – leading authorities to uncover two other operations in the eastern Valencia region and in La Rioja to the north.
Police said the gang was diversifying production by building large marijuana plantations.
The investigation was assisted by the European policing agency Europol.
According to the United Nations, there are about 8 million registered Ukrainian refugees across Europe, who fled Russia’s invasion in February 2022. More than 160,000 have been registered in Spain.
In November, European Parliament lawmakers reported that labor exploitation of Ukrainians was on the rise, saying the urgency of their situation and language barriers sometimes forced migrants into informal and low-paid work. What did
