Gangmastering between Naples and Caserta: Laborers paid €2,70 an hour for 10-14 hours, two arrests

CASERTA – They worked up to fourteen hours a day for 2 euros and 70 cents an hour, with no breaks, no rights, no alternatives. "Without your quota, you can't eat" was the rule imposed by gangmasters in the countryside between Naples and Caserta, where the Carabinieri—coordinated by the Naples North prosecutor's office—uncovered a brutal system of exploitation involving between 40 and 80 Indian laborers without residence permits.

The operation resulted in the arrest of a farmer and his wife. The same measure was issued for two other suspects, both of Indian origin and currently unaccounted for, along with an obligation to report to the judicial police. The charges, of varying degrees, are serious: illegal intermediation, aggravated labor exploitation, and violence and threats to coerce the commission of a crime.

The picture that emerged from the investigations is one of an inhumane supply chain. Laborers were recruited to work on the fields of the two provinces and transported in vans "crammed like animals," lacking even the most basic safety standards. Once in the fields, they were constantly monitored, intimidated, and threatened with loss of pay or even being called back. Not even bad weather or the use of pesticides interrupted the work cycle: production was not allowed to slow down.

During the searches, the Carabinieri found nearly €550 hidden in the entrepreneur's warehouse and seized four vans used to transport labor. This money and equipment, according to investigators, reveal the extent of a system that transformed workers' vulnerability into profit.

The case brings to the forefront the issue of gangmastering in Campania, a phenomenon that continues to exploit thousands of people in the shadows of the countryside. This time, the conditions documented by the military speak for themselves: grueling shifts, paltry wages, oppressive control, and a climate of fear geared to production. An economy of blackmail governed by a single rule: work at all costs.