Spain Arrests 25 People for Providing False Documents ...

Spanish National Police have arrested 25 people included in a criminal organisation that facilitated illegal immigration and document falsification.

The police revealed that this criminal group completed the procedures for obtaining Spanish nationality in their name in exchange for €3,000 and facilitated marriages of convenience for €6,000, Schengen.News reports.

The operation was carried out in two phases, and eight members of the network were arrested in Malaga (5), Lorca (2) and Marbella (1). Another 17 people, including collaborators and clients of the organisation, were arrested in Malaga (12), Huelva (2), Madrid (1) and Vic (1), in the province of Barcelona.

According to the police, the network in question used fake documents created with real customer data and pictures of members of the organisation they claimed to be. As a result, they demanded amounts ranging from €2,000 to €3,000.

Those arrested impersonated immigrants in exams to obtain the Diploma in Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) and the Spanish Constitutional and Sociocultural Knowledge Test (CCSAE), both required to obtain Spanish citizenship.

Meanwhile, they demanded €1,000 from immigrants to get fake driver licenses. At the same time, the arrested persons also provided residence and work cards for foreign citizens in regular conditions in Spain and those in irregular situations to work.

The first phase of investigations started in December last year in cities such as Malaga, Marbella, and Lorca. The aim was to dismantle the organisation and end its criminal activity.

During this operation, the country’s police arrested eight members of the network, who, according to the case, were charged with crimes of belonging to a criminal organisation, facilitating illegal immigration and forging documents as well.

In the first phase, the police searched a house in the Murcia municipality of Lorca, seizing €5,770 in cash, 34 fake foreign identity cards, nine fake passports, and 65 bank cards and passbooks. In the second phase, the agents focused on finding and capturing associates and clients of the criminal group, arresting 17 more people.

Earlier this month, the Spanish National Police arrested 13 people involved in promoting illegal immigration through employment procedures by forging documents and defrauding insurance companies and public subsidies.

They forced migrant workers from Senegal and Morocco who worked in a large agricultural company in Hellín (Albacete) to pay between €4000 and €6000 for temporary residence and work permits.