Seven arrested in Malaga town for exploiting women from Nicaragua to work as live-in carers

The human trafficking victim's support service, with the collaboration of the town hall and the Nicaraguan authorities via Interpol, launched the investigation in October 2025.

Their target was an alleged criminal network that was recruiting women from Nicaragua to work in the elderly care sector under deplorable working conditions.

They were able to piece together the victims' journeys from the time they were recruited until they entered the Spanish labour market.

Among the detainees is the main suspect, whose role within the organisation was to act as "the contact" and the person who provided the route out of Nicaragua towards a better future.

According to the investigation, she would contact the victims and offer them a job in Spain as live-in carers for elderly people.

Upon arrival, however, the women would find completely different conditions. They were required to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in exchange for a meagre wage, with no entitlement to public holidays or annual leave and without a contract or registration in the Social Security systm.

A travel agency based in Managua (Nicaragua) served as a front for the organisation. There, the victims were briefed on how to get through border controls and were given the necessary documents and money to enter the country.

The head of the criminal network and her partner, who was originally from Spain, relied on the support of family members and associates in carrying out basic tasks such as sending money to the victims during the initial recruitment phase.

Once in Spain, the victims were taken to a property in Almargen, owned by one of the organisation's main members. There, the women had to carry out cleaning tasks without pay. They remained there until they started live-in jobs, during which time they were required to pay 200 euros a day for accommodation.

Upon realising the conditions to which they were to be subjected, some of the victims would decide to leave their jobs.

However, it was too late to do so, as they did not have a return ticket. They also had to pay off the 5,000-euro debt in monthly instalments of 350 euros. If they did eventually leave their jobs, that amount would increase by 100 euros as a penalty.

The police have now dismantled the organisation, arrested seven people and searched two properties in Almargen.

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