Aversa, a horrific factory: laborers held like slaves in the fields. Arrests and half a million seized.

Aversa – A veritable "organization" dedicated to the exploitation of vulnerable workers was dismantled this morning by the Carabinieri. An Aversa-area farmer, his wife, and an Indian citizen were arrested.

A fourth man, also of Indian origin, is forced to report to investigators. The operation, coordinated by the Prosecutor's Office of Northern Naples, uncovers a network of abuses worthy of a crime novel, hidden in the fields of the provinces of Naples and Caserta.

Investigations by the Operations Department of the Command Carabinieri for the Protection of Labor, with the assistance of the Aversa Group and the collaboration of the ALT Caporalato DUE project (which also involves the Labor Inspectorate and the IOM), have reconstructed a very serious circumstantial framework relating to the period February-July 2024.

The gangmaster system here was represented by the company owner, who, with the complicity of his wife and two Indian "caporali," recruited dozens of laborers—between 40 and 80, mostly compatriots of the two brokers and without residency permits—to exploit them on his land. The conditions described by investigators border on slavery.

Exploitation: "Without quota, there's no food."

Workers were picked up at dawn and crammed like cargo into the cargo spaces of vans, with no security whatsoever. In the fields, subjected to grueling shifts of 10-14 hours a day, they earned a pittance: about €2,70 an hour. No weekly rest, no opportunity to take sick leave.

The lunch break, lasting just a few minutes, was a reward: it was granted only upon reaching a daily harvest quota. An unwritten but ironclad rule: "If you don't meet your quota, you don't get anything." Under close surveillance, they were threatened with not being paid or receiving no further work if they slowed down or accidentally damaged the produce.

The coercion knew no bounds: they were forced to work in the rain, covering themselves with plastic bags, and forced to remain in the fields during pesticide spraying, with the threat of dismissal for those who left due to illness. They lived in dilapidated housing. The height of the threats was the fear of reporting: the laborers were ordered not to speak to the police, under penalty of serious physical violence.

The measures: arrests and a massive seizure of 542 euros.

The investigating judge of the Court of Naples North, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, issued precautionary measures. The businessman, his wife, and one of the two Indian citizens were placed under house arrest (the two Indians are currently unaccounted for), while the second mediator was ordered to report to the judicial police.

At the same time, a massive preventive seizure of profits was carried out: €542.934,56 in cash, found in the farm's warehouse and headquarters, as well as four vans used for the illegal transportation of labor. This sum, according to investigators, represents the proceeds of the exploitation scheme.

Today's operation is part of a broader effort to combat gangmastering in the Aversa area, a sadly entrenched phenomenon that sees undocumented migrant workers as the prime targets of an unscrupulous business.