Nicaraguan boxers forced to fight illegally in Europe

A NUMBER of Nicaraguan boxers were tricked into travelling to Spain to take part in a competition and then were forced to remain.

The boxers were invited by a promoter to come to Spain to take part in a single match for which they would be paid and could then return home.

In the event, they were made to stay in a dirty apartment in Terrassa (Barcelona) and were sent out to box in different parts of Europe with all of the appearance money being kept by their captors which included a former boxer known as ‘El Terrible.’

Although they had no work permits and no wish to continue to box, they were told that their families in Nicaragua would suffer if they didn’t do as they were told.

Those behind their effective kidnapping fooled European promoters by showing false medical documents and licences and it was only the intervention by officers of the National Police that allowed the release of the 19 victims and the arrest of the seven gang members involved in the affair.