Simon Hunter
SPAIN’S National Police force has busted a criminal ring that was forging residency cards for migrants in an irregular situation, thus allowing them to work.
The gang, which was operating in Murcia and Malaga, forced its clients to pay between €500 and €600 to get their hands on the fake document, and then obliged them to pay €200 a month from their income.
The organisation is alleged to have made some €1,800 a year from each of its ‘customers’, who were Nigerian nationals living in Spain illegally.
The gang was also providing accommodation for these migrants in so-called ‘pisos patera’, cramped flats that are packed with residents.
According to the National Police, six arrests were made, four in Malaga and two in Murcia, on charges of belonging to a criminal gang, document forgery and crimes against the rights of foreign citizens.
More than 50 fake documents were seized, along with €400 of cash, nine mobile phones, a laptop and a series of computer storage devices.
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