Twenty-three victims of nail salon exploitation released, fourteen arrests

The National Police have freed 23 victims of labour exploitation in nail salons in the provinces of Alicante, the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Seville, and Vizcaya. Thus, 14 people have been arrested in Seville (five), Palma de Mallorca (four), Benidorm (four), and Bilbao (one), including the four leaders of a criminal organisation. One of them has been remanded in custody.

Agents have dismantled this network, allegedly dedicated to human trafficking and labour exploitation. Most of the victims, Vietnamese nationals, were recruited in their country of origin and transported to Spain with a residence and work permit they fraudulently obtained in Hungary.

Once there, the victims were forced to work more than ten hours a day, Monday through Sunday, without receiving any pay until they paid off their debt to the criminal network, which amounted to up to 20,000 euros.

As a result of the pressure they were under, one of the victims attempted suicide, the National Police explained in a statement on Saturday, May 24th.

The police investigation began in April 2024 when several workers were identified in various nail salons in the city of Palma de Mallorca as potential victims of labour exploitation.

In this context, the investigation initiated by the agents focused on the owner of these businesses, who, in turn, was linked to the managers of other establishments located in the provinces of Alicante, Barcelona, Seville, and Vizcaya. This allowed investigators to corroborate the existence of this criminal organisation that specialised in human trafficking and labour exploitation in nail salons.

From Vietnam to Spain

Most of the victims were recruited in Vietnam and flown to Hungary, where the criminal organisation fraudulently provided them with residence and work permit cards before travelling overland to Spain.

Once in Spain, the criminal network provided them with housing so they could monitor them at all times and attempted to regularise their administrative status.

The victims were enrolled in various language centres in order to apply for a study permit, although they never attended the training centres.

Debt of 20,000 euros

The expenses associated with the transfer left the victims in debt to the network, which could reach 20,000 euros. They had to repay that amount by working more than ten hours a day, seven days a week, in nail salons run by the network without receiving any salary until the debt was settled.

These conditions, and the pressure from their exploiters to repay the debt, pushed the victims to their limits, a fact that investigators were able to confirm when one of them attempted suicide.

The police operation concluded with a large-scale operation involving more than 150 officers.

Three of the seven raids in Palma de Mallorca, Seville, and Alicante took place in establishments that were under closure orders.

Thirteen people have been arrested, of Vietnamese (nine), Spanish (four) and American (one) nationality, including the four leaders of the criminal organisation, one of whom has been remanded in custody.

In addition, a total of 23 victims of Vietnamese (19) and Filipino (four) origin have been released, and 79,000 euros in cash, five high-end vehicles, jewellery valued at 8,500 euros, and abundant supporting documentation have been seized, and 291,000 euros have been blocked in bank accounts.