By IANS,
London : Police in Brazil have identified a gang specialising in trafficking Bangladeshi nationals into the country, a media report said.
About 80 Bangladeshi workers have been lured with promises of earning up to $1,500 a month. But they ended up as slave labourers in order to pay their smugglers nearly $10,000, BBC reported citing the Agencia Brasil news agency.
South America’s biggest economy has recently seen a steep rise in cases of illegal immigration.
The traffickers explored routes across the borders of Peru, Bolivia and Guyana to enter Brazil, investigators said.
The workers were found living in slavery-like conditions in eight houses in Samambaia town near Brasilia, an investigator said.
The Bangladeshis worked at freezer warehouses, building and car-washing sites.
A number of smugglers have been identified and investigators were granted 14 search warrants, officers said.