An international network dedicated to illegal trafficking of migrants between the Dominican Republic and Spain using the “look alike” method has been dismantled

Agents of the Spanish National Police, in an operation that included the participation of AMERIPOL, INTERPOL, the Federal Police of Brazil, the National Police of the Dominican Republic and the Municipal Police of Madrid, have dismantled an international organization allegedly dedicated to the illegal trafficking of citizens of Dominican origin between the Caribbean country and Spain. The migrants passed the border controls with the method known as “look alike”, through which they used valid passports of compatriots naturalized in Spain with whom they bore a reasonable physical resemblance. There are a total of 36 people arrested, 34 in Madrid, among whom are the two main leaders of the network who have been sent to prison, and two more in Brazil and the Dominican Republic.

The police investigation began in October last year based on a series of reports received from the AMERIPOL Centre against Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants in Brazil, where Spain has a permanent liaison officer. The Police Cooperation Agency in the Americas pointed to the possible existence of a transnational organisation based in Spain, the Dominican Republic and Brazil, whose objective was to ensure that Dominican citizens could gain illegal access to our country by fraudulently using authentic Spanish documents.

In Madrid

Once this information was gathered, and after carrying out initial investigations, the agents proceeded to arrest eight citizens of Dominican origin with Spanish nationality in the city of Madrid, who had allegedly sold their respective passports to the organisation under investigation for an amount close to 500 euros.

During the first phase of the investigation, the agents were able to determine that the passports obtained in Spain were transported by members of the network to the Dominican Republic, where they were given to the recruited migrants in exchange for sums of around 5,000 euros. These amounts also included the purchase of plane tickets and temporary accommodation in transit countries, mainly Brazil, before leaving for Spain as their final destination.

To avoid border controls, including those of other European Union countries where they stopped over before arriving in our country, migrants used authentic Spanish passports of citizens with whom they shared a reasonable physical resemblance, a method known as “look alike”.

A total of 36 detainees

In the second phase of the investigation, agents have managed to arrest seven members of the network in Madrid, including the two top leaders who have been remanded in custody, and 19 more people who are believed to have sold their passports to the network. In four searches carried out in the capital, agents have seized a vehicle, seven mobile phones, 13 passports, two false foreign identity cards, 30 grams of cocaine and 3,440 euros in cash.

An operational coordination team was established in Madrid with the deployment of agents from AMERIPOL, the Federal Police of Brazil and the National Police of the Dominican Republic to participate in the police operation and coordinate directly with their respective agencies. In turn, agents from the National Police traveled to the Dominican Republic to participate in a coordinated manner in the police operation that concluded with the arrest of two more members of the network, one in Brazil and another in the Dominican Republic, in charge of logistics and migrant recruitment.

The collaboration of the Central Office of Document Operations -PUNTO ATENAS- has been essential for the success of this investigation.

The Athens Point

Within the Central Unit against Illegal Immigration Networks and Document Forgery, there is the ATENAS POINT, which acts as a “call center” for quick consultations by any National Police officer who, in the course of his or her actions, detects documents with signs of falsification or of dubious authenticity. If the answer is positive, the agents at the Atenas Point will prepare a Technical Report with a digital signature within a maximum period of 10 minutes, which will be sent to the email address of the Police Station or Police Unit of the officers involved. In this way, an effective and rapid response is given to possible doubts that may arise regarding the authenticity of identity, travel or driving documents linked to irregular immigration.