Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Spanish Police Break Up Basque Network Selling Fake Papers to Regularize Migrants

The probe reveals systematic falsification of local registrations and certificates that exploited gaps in oversight across gestorías, municipal registries and regularization checks.

Overview

  • Police dismantled a network linked to four gestorías in Bilbao and San Sebastián after unauthorized files flagged by the Subdelegación del Gobierno led to a months‑long inquiry.
  • Investigators say 19 people were arrested in early May with searches on May 7–8 and later released pending charges while the judicial inquiry continues.
  • Authorities have accredited 118 cases in which organizers sold forged padrones, training certificates, medical reports and bank statements for €5,000–€10,000 per client.
  • Most identified victims were Moroccan migrants with a smaller number from Tunisia and Algeria, and agents seized more than €13,000 in cash and other currencies during raids.
  • A related UCRIF probe in Almería arrested six people, including a municipal official, with two ordered to pretrial detention, underscoring wider concerns about facilitation and public‑sector complicity.