Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• 136 documents have been intercepted, including driving licenses, passports or identity documents containing nationalities from different European countries.
• Those arrested contacted the forgers through social networks and instant messaging, setting a price of between 1,000 and 3,000 euros per document and date of sending to Spain.

May 18, 2023.- Customs Surveillance Officials of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with agents of the National Police, have detained 64 people and intercepted 136 false documents with a high level of professionalization.

The documents were driving licenses, passports or identity cards, all with European nationality to be able to circulate through Schengen territory without difficulty.

There are 64 detainees throughout Spain. Potential clients contacted the forgers through social networks and instant messaging, setting a price between 1,000 and 3,000 euros per document and date of sending to Spain. They are charged with crimes of smuggling, document falsification and against the rights of foreign citizens by favoring irregular immigration.

The investigation is initiated by the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, within the framework of its controls on parcel shipments from abroad, which had been selected using risk analysis techniques.

Officials detect shipments with falsified documentation, so they contact the Atenas Point of the National Police to verify the falsification of the intercepted documents.

Acquisition of documentation through social networks

National Police agents checked different types of documents. Among the forgeries were identity documents, passports and driving licenses with different European nationalities to be able to travel through Schengen territory without difficulty. In total, 136 documents with a high level of professionalization were detected.

Throughout the investigation, it was detected that the 'clients' contacted the foreign counterfeiters through various social networks and instant messaging where they set a price according to the document they requested, since the passports that had stamps of border entailed greater cost because it was understood that these conferred greater credibility on them at border crossings. Therefore the price ranged between 1,000 and 3,000 euros. Through the same channels they also arranged the date for sending the passports to Spain.

64 people have been arrested: 24 in Madrid; 7 in Huelva; 7 in Barcelona; 5 in Granada; 4 in Alicante; 4 in Las Palmas; 2 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife; 2 in Cádiz; 2 in Melilla; 2 in León; 1 in Almería; 1 in Pontevedra; 1 in Córdoba; 1 in Lugo; and 1 in Jaén. They are charged with the crimes of smuggling, document falsification and against the rights of foreign citizens by favoring irregular immigration.

Within the Central Unit Against Illegal Immigration Networks and Documentary Falsities is the Atenas Point, which acts as a 'call center' for quick consultations by agents of the National Police or any other police cooperation.