Police cracks down on passport forgery ring

A police operation set up with support from Europol has resulted in the disbandment of an extensive network that supplied more than 1 million euros’ worth of forged passports and other travel documents to migrant smuggling rings, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) said on Friday.

The first phase of the operation was carried out in mid-September and resulted in the arrest of three foreign nationals and the seizure of hundreds of travel documents.

The second phase, on Tuesday and Wednesday, led to the arrest of seven suspected racket members in different parts of the Greek capital.

Investigators believe an Iraqi and an Albanian are the leaders of the racket, with the former organizing the deals with smugglers and the latter ensuring a supply of travel documents that could be doctored.

Each passport or Greek identity card would fetch 100 to 240 euros, according to police.