Forced CriminalityArchive 2008–2016

Forced Criminality in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais (2010)

A forced criminality case from 2010 in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

The human trafficking ring in question would charge Brazillian emigrants up to $15,000 for false documents and to be smuggled into the U.S. There, members of the gang would abduct the emigrants and demand ransom for them from their families. The U.S. Consulate reported, “They left from Brazil and went initially to Guatemala, from where J.C.'s coyotes (migrant smugglers) guided the clients across Mexico to the border with the United States border.” In some of the cases, migrants were abducted in Texas, and their families were asked for ransoms of up to $10,000. The abducted migrants were often tortured or threatened with mutiliation. Investigations began when J.C. was arrested on charges of forging passports in July 2010. Subsequently, twelve members of the gang were arrested. Ten of those arrests took place in Governador Valadares.

Response and intervention

Twelve members of the gang accused of smuggling and abducting Brazilian emigrants were arrested

Nearby cases

All 17 in Brazil →

Forced Labor2010

Tocantins - Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2010

Brazil BR

381 individuals were subjected to slave-like conditions on a farm in the municipality of Caseara. Their work on the farm included fertilizing, planting and harvesting crops between March and April 2009. The workers contracts were found to be fraudulent The workers were forced to work 11 hours a day in degrading conditions – the housing was overcrowded, and there were no sanitary facilities. The workers were also in contact with chemicals without appropriate protection.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Forced Labor2010

Bom Retiro, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2010

Brazil BR

Information collected via GOOGLE TRANSLATE: Three Bolivian traffickers were arrested for employing 12 workers in ‘conditions analogous to slavery. They had three apartments in the clandestine garment centre of Sao Paulo where the Bolivian workers were forced to live and work in 17 hours shifts. Some of the workers were related to the three traffickers – and some were less than 17 year of age. They received $0.50 per garment made, which earned them a monthly salary of $150. Some of the workers were recruited in Bolivia by members of their own family with the promise of housing and a better salary.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Forced Labor2011

São Paulo, Brazil, 2011

Brazil BR

Brazilian labor authorities rescued 15 migrant workers, 14 Bolivians and one Peruvian, from a São Paulo sweatshop producing garments for Zara. Workers lived at the workplace, worked long shifts in dangerous and unhealthy conditions, and earned below Brazil’s minimum wage. One worker was 14 years old.

1 source