Kimberley Mannion
SPAIN’S Policia Nacional have arrested 23 people involved in a scheme to provide foreign citizens with fake documents in the Spanish towns of Almeria and Alicante.
Officers in the Andalucian town of Almeria tracked down the headquarters of the operation to the home of a Colombian couple.
The couple posed as lawyers and falsified documents relating to asylum claims and helped foreign citizens stay in Spain for longer than their entitled time.
The investigation also uncovered the forging of Colombian academic qualifications and exchanges of Colombian driving licences.
Those who made use of the falsified documents allegedly used them to access Spanish social security and prolong their stay in Spain.
The majority of those arrested for their involvement in the operation, 18 of the 23, were based in Alicante, while the other five were arrested in Almeria. The 23 are arrested for the crimes of falsification of documents and encouraging illegal immigration.
From the home of the couple behind the scheme in Almeria, police seized €18,200 in cash and documents relating to more than 300 people.
Named ‘Operation Canuto-Revoloteo’, the investigation, which began in October 2021, remains open with the possibility of further arrests being made.
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