The three perpetrators brought at least 36 Moroccans to Austria, demanded extortionate sums for them and arranged for them to work at riding stables, where some of them were badly housed and exploited. 35 horse farms across Austria were searched, and almost 200 police officers and tax officers were on duty, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Tuesday.
According to the investigators, the perpetrators proceeded in a very structured manner. Accomplices in Morocco had recruited workers there from March 2021 – after they had paid up to 8,000 euros, their personal details were sent to an accomplice in Graz. He then placed the workers as seasonal workers with horse farm operators and applied to the AMS for temporary work permits.
unworthy conditions
After the approval was granted, the workers received a personal appointment from the Austrian embassy in Morocco to complete the formalities. The smugglers then helped them fill out the forms that the workers used to get temporary residence permits in Austria. After arriving at the airport in Vienna, the workers were either picked up by one of the accomplices or by the employer and taken to the workplace, where they sometimes lived in degrading conditions and were badly paid. After a certain time in the riding stables, some of the Moroccans traveled on to other countries and stayed there illegally – the traffickers had promised them that from the start.
Investigations also against farm operators
The investigation started when a police patrol in the Völkermarkt district picked up a seemingly disoriented man – he was one of the victims. Investigations followed, which finally led to the searches. The main perpetrator, a 29-year-old Austrian citizen of Moroccan origin, was arrested in Graz. Investigations were also underway against the operators of the horse farms, especially under fiscal criminal law. The surveys also ask whether they knew about the background of their workers.
“Unscrupulous Gang of Smugglers”
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) emphasized that an “unscrupulous gang of people smugglers” had been put down, that it was an “important blow against this hideous form of organized crime”. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) explained that, in addition to smuggling, there were also offenses of alleged illegal employment of foreigners, exploitation of strangers and suspected illegal trade.
Source: Nachrichten
