Police estimate that hundreds of Dominican immigrants entered Spain illegally using the passports of Spaniards of Dominican origin that they resemble. Spanish citizens sold their passports to the illegal network to 500 eurosand with this authentic passport, a migrant who looked like him entered Spain. In total, 36 people are detained, 34 in Madrid, including the two main leaders of the network imprisoned, and two others in Brazil and Dominican Republic. Among them, investigators from the National and Municipal Police of Madrid arrested 19 Spaniards of Dominican origin who sold their passports to the human trafficking network.
The operation, coordinated from Madrid between Ameripol, Interpol, the Federal Police of Brazil, the National Police of the Dominican Republic and the Municipal Police of Madrid, began last October following a series of information received from the Anti-Trafficking Center and Ameripol’s immigrant trafficking in Brazil. , where Spain has a permanent liaison officer.
Initial investigations highlighted the possibility of the existence of a transnational criminal network based in Spain, the Dominican Republic and Brazil, whose objective was to ensure that Dominican citizens could enter Spain irregularly using fraudulent authentic Spanish documents. Once the information was collected, agents proceeded to arrest eight citizens in Madrid. Dominicans of Spanish nationality that they had sold their passports to the organization for an amount of 500 euros each.
The “similar” method
Police determined that the passports obtained in Spain were transported by members of the network to the Dominican Republic, where they were given to migrants in exchange for a few 5,000 euros per passport.
The prize also included the purchase of plane tickets and temporary accommodation in transit countries, including Brazil, before leaving for Spain as the final destination. To avoid border controls, immigrants used authentic spanish passports citizens with whom they shared a reasonable physical resemblance. A method called in police jargon look alike.
In the second phase of the investigation, officers arrested Madrid seven other members of the network, including the two senior officials already placed in pre-trial detention, in addition to others 19 other people who allegedly sold their passports.
Furthermore, during four searches carried out in the capital by the National Police, a vehicle, seven mobile phones, two false foreign identity cards, 30 grams of cocaine And 3,440 euros in cash.
