Italian police reported on Saturday that they had taken nearly half a million euros ($545,300) from the two alleged abusers of 33 Indian agricultural labourers who had been forced into slave-like working conditions in the northern Verona province.

Italian attention has turned its attention to labour exploitation in the wake of a June disaster involving an Indian fruit picker who lost his limb due to machinery.

In the most recent instance, authorities said that the suspected Indian gang leaders brought their fellow citizens to Italy on temporary labour visas, requesting 17,000 euros from each of them in exchange for a better future.

The migrants were given farm jobs, working seven days a week and 10-12 hours a day for just 4 euros an hour, which was entirely docked from them until they settled all their debts, the police said, describing the migrants’ treatment as “slavery”.

Some were asked to continue working for free to pay an additional 13,000 euros for a permanent work permit “which, in reality, would have never been given to them,” the police statement said.

The alleged abusers were charged with crimes connected to slavery and labour exploitation, while the victims will be offered protection, work opportunities, and legal residency papers, the police said.

Like other European nations, Italy has growing labour shortages often filled via immigration, particularly in lower-paid jobs, and has a migrant work visa system that has faced cases of fraud.

The country also has a problem with labour law violations. According to 2021 data from national statistics office Istat, about 11% of Italian workers were employed illegally, rising to more than 23% in agriculture.