Spanish police on Thursday said they had broken up a criminal network linked to smuggling 300 workers into the country, mostly from Nepal.

The workers were placed illegally on farms in central and eastern Spain.

Police arrested 11 people and are investigating two others.

A total of 322 people, most from Nepal, were among the victims. Of those, 294 lacked proper documentation to live and work in Spain.

In a statement, police said most of those smuggled had entered on tourist visas — including for other countries within the European Union's so-called Schengen area, which is made up of 25 of the 27 EU member countries, plus Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Once in Spain, the workers were recruited and moved to various parts of the country, where their labour rights were de

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