Polish authorities arrested a man identified as Lukasz Z. in Lublin on Wednesday, accusing him of heading a criminal network that trafficked Polish citizens into forced labor on farms in southern Italy. Two women linked to the ring were also taken into custody.
A joint Polish-Italian police operation in July had freed more than 100 Polish nationals held in squalid camps in Italy's Apulia region, near Bari and Foggia. Officials estimate as many as 1,000 Poles may have passed through such camps. Nearly 30 individuals have already been charged with human trafficking offenses.
Victims were recruited with false promises of legitimate, decent-paying work. Once in Apulia, they were compelled to pick tomatoes or artichokes in temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius for up to 15 hours a day, receiving as little as 15 to 20 euros daily, money that was frequently seized through extortion.
Workers were housed in filthy, unsanitary conditions, given only bread and water, and forced to sleep on bare floors. Guards who called themselves "kapo," a term borrowed from Nazi concentration camp terminology, beat those who resisted.
Poland has also asked Italy to help locate dozens of Polish nationals who disappeared over the past six years after working in the region. A list of more than 100 missing persons has been posted online by Polish police.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.