Several thousand stolen identity papers were seized during an investigation into a vast traffic in false documents between Marseille, Montpellier and the Yvelines at the end of which eight people were indicted, the border police said on Friday (November 27). .
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The investigation opened in December 2018 by a judge from Montpellier, for “
organized crime association
”, revealed three clandestine workshops in which were manufactured new passports, identity cards, or driving licenses from documents stolen throughout France.
Sold 20 euros each to counterfeiters, identity cards were split to allow the photo to be changed, before being resold "
between 1000 and 3000 euros per unit to candidates for immigration
", explained to AFP a source at the border police.
The “
kit
” comprising several identity documents could be resold for up to 5,000 euros.
About 10,000 euros in cash and "
several thousand
" of these stolen identity documents as well as computer equipment and devices for laminating documents were seized during these searches carried out on Monday in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille, in Montpellier and in the town of La Verrière (Yvelines).
Fifteen people were arrested and eight of them, seven men and a woman between the ages of 30 and 40, were indicted for "
criminal association in an organized gang
" and "
assistance in illegal residence
".
One was placed under warrant of committal and the other seven under judicial supervision.
