The Guardia Civil dismantled a clandestine vehicle workshop in Guardamar del Segura, as shared on their social media last week and reported in an official statement this week.
Investigations were initiated against two individuals for alleged crimes related to workers’ rights. According to the Guardia Civil, the workshop was exploiting three foreign workers in an irregular situation, offering them food and clothing in exchange for their work.
The action was carried out after receiving information at the end of November about the possible existence of this illegal workshop in Guardamar del Segura. At the time, it was suspected that they were employing workers under irregular conditions.
The inspection carried out on November 29 allowed the agents to locate the workshop, which was rented in the name of a 42-year-old Belarusian man with a history of falsifying documents. This individual, owner of a vehicle buying and selling company in Vega Baja, collaborated with a 48-year-old partner, also Belarusian, who rented the premises.
Inside the workshop, several vehicles were found in different stages of repair, and a total of 161 vehicle number plates from Spain and other European countries were seized. Research into the corresponding numbers is ongoing.
During the inspection, the presence of three Belarusian workers in an irregular situation was identified, who worked in exchange for food, clothing and lived in the workshop itself. The judicial proceedings will be carried out by the Investigative Court No. 4 of Torrevieja.
The defendants also face an administrative offence for the possession and use of fluorinated gases to recharge the air conditioning of the vehicles on which they worked.
As the Guardia Civil pointed out in the statement, this operation demonstrates the “firm commitment” in the fight against labour exploitation, highlighting that those responsible take advantage of the situation of need or vulnerability of foreign individuals in an irregular situation.
