One person has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison while two others received probationary sentences after an investigation uncovered illegal employment practices involving聽dozens of foreign nationals, who were trafficked and living in 鈥渄eplorable conditions鈥 in the Greater 海角社区官网and Hamilton Area.
聽on聽Thursday said that a joint investigation launched in 2018 found foreign nationals entered Canada as visitors through the Pearson, John C. Munro Hamilton and Montreal-Trudeau international airports before being trafficked into jobs 鈥渋n different lines of work, mostly in the Hamilton-Niagara Region.鈥
Victims were brought in through 鈥渆mployment agencies operated by members of the group who had facilitated their entry into Canada鈥 and 鈥渨ere exploited by the group members and their respective companies,鈥 authorities said.
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In July and September 2019, Hamilton police along with the RCMP and CBSA conducted eight search warrants in the Golden Horseshoe area, seven in Hamilton and one in Milton.
鈥淭hey discovered 84 foreign nationals, living in deplorable conditions, upwards of 25 people living in a single house and others with infestations of bed bugs, cockroaches and other vermin,鈥 the statement said.
Charges聽鈥 including human trafficking, material benefits and employing foreign nationals without authorization聽鈥斅爓ere then laid in 2021 and 2022 in connection with the search warrants and investigation, authorities said. The final court process was completed last month.
Mario Roca Morales pleaded guilty to three counts of human trafficking聽in February 2024 and was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.
Christian Vitela pleaded guilty to employing foreign nationals without authorization in April 2025 and received a conditional discharge with two years of probation, with the condition that he not employ foreign nationals.
Miurel Bracamonte pleaded guilty to employing a foreign national without authorization in February 2023. Bracamonte received a four-month conditional sentence plus an additional eight months’ probation and was ordered to pay $2,771 in restitution to the victim.
This announcement comes after a statement last month that three Ontario businesses pleaded guilty and were fined a total of $450,000 after a federal investigation uncovered illegal employment practices involving more than 700 foreign nationals working in Canada without authorization.
Ghada Alsharif is a Toronto-based immigration and work reporter
for the Star. Reach Ghada via email: galsharif@torstar.ca.
