In the hands of EL.AS a large international circuit: How immigrants were brought from Evros and other areas of Greece – Prices for forged documents

“Hit” in one of the largest international trafficking circuits was managed by the Hellenic Police and specifically the Department of Immigration Management of the Directorate of Foreigners of Attica, under the coordination of the Border Protection Directorate of the Hellenic Police Headquarters and with the assistance of EUROPOL the name “operation Waterfall”

A total of 8 foreigners were arrested, most of whom have been arrested in the past or charged with similar offenses (cases of trafficking in illegal immigrants), while 195 cases involving forgery of more than 577 travel documents and the illegal promotion of at least 66 immigrants were investigated.

Prices for trafficking ranged from 5,000 euros to 7,000 euros per head, while in an illegal laboratory located in the center of Athens, the authorities found a number of forged travel documents.

How they acted

After hiding them in apartments in Athens at a cost of 30 euros per day, they provided them with any forged or stolen documents and immediately afterwards they continued their journey to Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

They were transported by road to Thessaloniki and in the second phase they were promoted through Northern Macedonia or Albania. In fact, a characteristic of the organization of the circuit is the construction and use of a forged seal of the Consulate of a European country based in Egypt and corresponding forged VISA to be used for illegal promotions.

The announcement of EL.AS in detail

Large-scale operational action was implemented by the Immigration Management Department of the Attica Directorate of Foreigners, under the coordination of the Border Protection Directorate of the Hellenic Police Headquarters and with the assistance of EUROPOL, in order to dismantle transnational and smuggling transfers.

A total of 195 cases involving the forgery of more than 577 travel documents and the illegal promotion of at least 66 immigrants were investigated, with the illegal property gain estimated to exceed 550,000 euros.

In particular, in the context of many months of research, it emerged that the members of the organization, at least from the beginning of 2021, were active in the professional smuggling of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, with initial destination in our country and final destination in Central and Northern Europe and mainly Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

In order to achieve their goal, they operated an illegal laboratory forgery of travel documents in Athens, where they were active in the professional forgery of travel documents.

As it turned out, the members of the circuit acted in an organized and structured way of action (modus operandi) in order to transport illegal immigrants, namely:

• issued fake consular visas (VISAs) of various European countries, which they affixed to the passports of the migrants being promoted,
• sent by post to the candidates the fake passports, with the use of which they were promoted directly in our country or in Albania and from there to Greece or Italy,
• also undertook the illegal promotion of migrants, from Athens, mainly to Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, with the “Method of Sosia” or with forged documentswhile
• also used her method “Balkan Road”hiding the immigrants in houses in Athens, who were then transported by road to Thessaloniki and in the second phase were promoted through Northern Macedonia or Albania.
Characteristic of the organization of the circuit is the construction and use of a forged seal of the Consulate of a European country based in Egypt and corresponding counterfeit VISA to be used for illegal promotions.

In order for the trafficking to take place, each migrant paid to the criminal organization the corresponding fee, as shown in the following table:

For the operation of the illegal travel document forgery laboratory, a specialized member of the circuit possessed appropriate equipment in order to alter their data (change of holder photo, change of holder details, issuance dates and validity of documents, etc.).

At the same time, with special metal dies, he produced imitations of the leather covers of passports, drawing up forged documents from the beginning, while those documents that were not used for illegal trafficking, were sold for high fees to prospective “clients”.

In fact, the members of the circuit, circulated documents internationally using the postal services while the prices varied depending on the type and country of origin of the document and the quantity of each order, as shown in the table below:

To dismantle the criminal organization, a large police operation was carried out on Wednesday, June 1 and Thursday, June 2, 2022, in the greater area of ​​downtown Athens, during which 8 foreigners, members of the ring, were arrested.
In fact, one of the detainees turned out to be prosecuted with a sentence of 19 years in prison and a fine of 60,000 euros for his involvement in other cases of migrant trafficking, while other members of the ring have been charged by prosecutors of European countries for similar cases.

What did they find?

A search of homes and a shop followed, where a total of items were found and confiscated:

• 153 passports,
• 156 identity cards,
• 42 residence permits,
• 11 special consular visas (VISA),
• 11 asylum seeker cards,
• 118 leather passport covers,
• 3 computers,
• 5 printers – document scanners and other materials,
• 22 mobile phones and
• 3,995 euros.

The case file includes the – where appropriate – offenses of directing and setting up a criminal organization in conjunction with the legislation to facilitate the entry and exit of third-country nationals, without complying with the legal formalities, forgery of more than 120,000 euros and forgery of certificates ‘continuation.

The arrested were taken to the competent Prosecutor, while the case was referred for main investigation.
It is pointed out that this action took place under the supervision of the Border Protection Directorate of the Hellenic Police Headquarters, in collaboration with the Europol Organization, which provided detailed support and expertise using the “Mobile Office” during it.

From the Greek side, it was implemented in the framework of the implementation of the National Business Plan (ERC) of our country and is part of the “EMPACT” Program of the EU Policy Cycle for the fight against serious and organized crime and more specifically, pan-European Action led by Greece and aims to dismantle organized networks of trafficking of migrants from Turkey to Greece and then to other European countries “.