Police dismantle organization that sold fake asylum documents
The Spanish National Police has dismantled a criminal organization allegedly dedicated to the falsification of immigrant documents, mainly asylum seekers' cards.
According to police information, the operation led to the arrest of 29 suspects. Nine of them are suspected of belonging to a criminal organization, document falsification and favoring irregular immigration. The other 20 are suspected of being customers who bought the forged documents.
The organization operated from Madrid, but there are also detainees in the provinces of Barcelona, Huelva, Almeria, Murcia and Zaragoza. According to the police, several members of the group had been arrested years ago for similar acts. Specifically, three of those involved had a record of arrests for forgery of documents.
Among the suspects arrested are people of sub-Saharan origin, nationals of Nigeria, Mali and the Ivory Coast. There is also a man of Colombian origin, suspected of distributing counterfeit documents among people of South American origin.
The group charged an average of 300 euros for each forged document. The documents were delivered in person, by postal delivery or through a parcel company. The investigators have estimated that in the last 4 years the group produced more than 700 forged asylum documents, for which it obtained a profit of more than 200,000 euros.
Forged cards detected
The investigation began after authorities detected forged asylum documents held by migrants. Those invalid cards had been shown by foreigners in attempts to carry out various official procedures, such as registering with Social Security or identifying themselves.
During the operation, the police made 4 searches and seized 39 forged documents. Of these, 27 were cards for asylum seekers, 8 identification cards for foreigners, 2 driving licenses and 2 Guinean passports.
The police also seized 3,700 euros in cash, a printer, PVC cards, mobile phones, laptops, tablets and various documentation related to the investigation.