Court convicts businessman and foreman for endangering workers at Paysandú citrus farm

The court case that raised alarms about alleged labor exploitation at a citrus operation in Paysandú ended with convictions, but not for slavery or human trafficking. A businessman and a foreman were found responsible under Uruguay’s corporate criminal responsibility law after workers went without safety equipment during the harvest, a failure linked to several accidents and serious injuries.

The company, Sanducitrus, came under public scrutiny in December 2025. An operation involving the Labor Ministry, Interpol and the Public Prosecutor’s Office found 38 Argentine citizens, 14 Peruvians and seven Uruguayans working at the company’s fields in what authorities described at the time as possible conditions of labor exploitation.

The prosecution initially formalized charges for reducing people to slavery, servitude or forced labor. Initial testimony suggested that Argentine workers had very limited freedom of movement. But after more than six months of investigation, the court concluded that the legal requirements for that offense had not been met.

The findings described very poor working conditions, but investigators did not establish abusive controls or threats. They also found that most workers had left and later returned to the company several times. Officials had raised the possibility of an organized human-trafficking operation, but that allegation was not proved. The investigation also found that the wages promised during recruitment were paid, and that many workers approached the recruiter themselves to ask for work.

The change in charges sharply reduced the potential penalties. Slavery-related offenses carry a minimum sentence of four years, while corporate criminal responsibility offenses carry a minimum of three months. On Aug. 20, the foreman from subcontractor Service Work SAS received six months in prison, with 15 days to be served in custody and the remainder under probation. Because he had already spent time in preventive detention and under other measures, the sentence was considered served. Days earlier, the owner of the subcontractor received four months under probation, electronic monitoring and community service. Prosecutor Joaquín Suárez said the owner of Sanducitrus remains under investigation for corporate criminal responsibility offenses.