A number of Malaysians are stuck working illegally in fruit orchards in Australia, earning well below the minimum wage, as they are exploited by and indebted to their employers.

"These people - misled, indebted and exploited - are picking some of the fruit that you and your family will buy from (retailers) Coles, Woolworths and Costco and eat this summer," reported The Canberra Times in a detailed expose on what it described as "black market labour".

A person, referred to as Jimmy, a worker turned illegal labour-hire syndicate middleman, said some of the notorious exploiters of illegal workers paid their workers so little that after rent and expenses, they are left in debt.

"Some of them owe money, some are negative," Jimmy said.

A Malaysian man working illegally on a farm spoke to The Canberra Times and said that he could not leave because his employer, called Lee the Afghan, is withholding his pay...