Two foreigners, aged 31 and 19, accused of forming a gang, forgery and possession of travel documents of third persons on repeated occasions, were arrested, following a coordinated police operation of the Immigration Management Department of the Attica Aliens Directorate, which took place on Monday (23/6) in Kallithea. In addition, the 31-year-old is also accused of violating the law on addictive substances.

In particular, according to the ELAS, after appropriate use of information and in cooperation with EUROPOL, it was established that the two defendants were involved in an organized circuit active in the preparation and trafficking of forged travel documents intended for the illegal movement of migrants to countries of the European Union, mainly through the air route.

More specifically, the circuit approached migrants who illegally entered Rhodes from Turkey and undertook their transportation from Rhodes to Athens and from there to other countries of the European Union by air, after having prepared fake travel documents.

For this purpose, the 31-year-old, with the assistance of the 19-year-old, operated a complete workshop for the preparation of forged documents, which had specialized equipment for printing and engraving travel documents.

Also, as noted in the relevant statement, it was found that the 31-year-old was active since 2022 in the preparation and marketing of travel documents, while the German authorities had made in 2022 a seizure of a package containing a fake driving license, the sender of which was the 31-year-old.

To avoid detection and arrest, the 31-year-old took special security measures as he had set up the laboratory in a room of a house, and to make it difficult to locate him, he accepted orders from the collaborating migrant trafficking networks via online communication and social media applications.

In these cases, he received photographs of the migrants being trafficked, the details to be included in the documents, the country of origin, and the type of document (passport or identity card).

The delivery of the documents was also carried out by his 19-year-old accomplice, who also possessed and concealed in his home a large quantity of forged documents and raw materials used to forge the documents.

On a case-by-case basis, the ring received the sum of 4,800 euros per migrant for the illegal transfer from Turkey to Rhodes, 1,200 euros for the illegal transfer from Rhodes to Athens and 800 euros for the preparation of a forged travel document, while the quantity of documents that have been trafficked is estimated at several thousand with the estimated illegal financial benefit exceeding 120,000 euros.

The two accused were found in the area of Kallithea, and following investigations carried out at their homes were found and seized:

– a fully equipped laboratory for the preparation of forged documents (2 laptop computers, 2 printers, a heat sealer, a document scanner, several raw materials, etc.),

– 77 passports,

– 70 pages of individual passport data,

– 55 gelatin sheets with iridescent passport security details,

– 3 identity cards,

– 3 residence permits,

-2 driving licences,

– 2 asylum cards,

– 2 special consular entry visas (VISA),

– small quantity of raw cannabis,

– the sum of 900 euros; and

– 2 mobile phones.

At the same time from the ELAS noted that the 31-year-old has been employed by the authorities for similar offenses, while two prosecution documents (arrest warrant and conviction) for several offenses were pending against him.

Finally, the statement stressed that “this case was implemented in the framework of the National Operational Plan (NOP) and the EMPACT EAST MED 2.2 Operational Action of the European Union policy cycle led by our country. To directly investigate the operational data and to highlight all aspects of the action of the ring, which is international, the Directorate of Aliens maintains cooperation with EUROPOL.”

The arrested persons were taken to the competent public prosecutor.