Carabinieri police arrested
two brothers in the southern Calabria region on Friday as part
of an operation against the local gangmaster system.
The suspects, 48 and 41, were apprehended on charges of
illegal brokerage and labour exploitation with racial
discrimination as an aggravating factor.
Investigators say they made African, Indian and Romanian
immigrants work illegally on their farm and paid them according
to skin colour.
Whites allegedly earned 35 euros a day and blacks 25 euros.
The arrests came on the heels of a probe into the alleged
exploitation of migrants at local reception centres.
The migrants, mostly from Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal and Guinea
Bissau, were allegedly picked up from near the "Ninfa Marina"
reception centre and taken to work on the farm.
Property and other assets with a total value of 2 million
euros have been confiscated.
"Labour exploitation aggravated by racial discrimination is
intolerable from every point of view," Agriculture Minister
Maurizio Martina said.
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