Brazilian police say they have identified a gang specialising in trafficking Bangladeshi nationals into the country.
About 80 workers have been lured by their own countrymen with promises of earning up to $1,500 (ÂĢ985) a month.
But they ended up as slave labour in order to pay their smugglers nearly $10,000, police say.
South America's biggest economy has recently seen a steep rise in cases of illegal immigration.
The smugglers explored routes across the borders of Peru, Bolivia and Guyana to enter Brazil, investigators said.
'Coyotes'
The workers were found living in slavery-like conditions eight houses in the town of Samambaia near Brasilia, an investigator told the Agencia Brasil news agency.
He said the Bangladeshis worked at freezer warehouses, building and car-washing sites.