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The Spanish National Police have dismantled an organisation operating in the province of Alicante and the autonomous city of Ceuta and which is accused of having defrauded 100,000 euros from young people and minors recruited in their countries of origin, mainly South America, and transported to Spain under the deception of playing in the Spanish professional football league, after paying around 2,000 euros each.
So far, around fifty victims have been identified, all of them between 16 and 21 years old, most of them from Latin America and many of them homeless, and it is estimated that the money defrauded by this network amounts to 100,000 euros.
The National Police announced this Monday in a statement about this operation, called New Team, which has resulted in the arrest of twelve people, aged between 30 and 50, of Spanish and Colombian nationality, for alleged crimes against the rights of foreign citizens, against the rights of workers, abandonment of minors, fraud and membership of a criminal organisation.
The investigation into this case began after learning that a minor of Colombian origin had appeared at a well-known NGO in Elche requesting accommodation and support given the precarious situation he was in. The young man lived with other minors from his country in this town where they had arrived after being recruited in Colombia to come to Spain and supposedly play in the professional football league.
The dismantled network had extensive experience in the world of sport, was perfectly organised and had international connections with South American and African countries, where it had recruiters.
In order to gain their trust, the fraudsters acted through an alleged football representation agency, whose manager and collaborators were part of the criminal structure under investigation.
Once in Spain , they were required to pay more for accommodation and maintenance, and were completely abandoned when they could no longer afford to pay any more money.
In two house searches, police seized a large amount of documents and electronic devices, while blocking various banking products.
Immigration and Borders agents from the Ceuta Police Headquarters and the Elche Police Station have participated in the operation, which is still ongoing, so more arrests are not ruled out.
