Brazil has stopped issuing temporary work visas for BYD , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, in the wake of accusations that some workers at a site owned by the Chinese electric vehicle producer had been victims of human trafficking.

Dozens of Chinese workers have been taken and put up in hotels in Brazil’s tropical northeastern region after local labor authorities found them at a construction site for electric vehicle automaker BYD.

Authorities in Brazil said Friday they are probing Chinese auto giant BYD and one of its contractors for suspected "trafficking" of Chinese workers building a factory in the South American country.