Illustration of identity papers -
F. LODI / SIPA
Several thousand stolen identity papers were seized during an investigation into a vast traffic in false documents between Marseille, Montpellier and the Yvelines, after which eight people were indicted.
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.
Searches in Marseille and the Yvelines
Given 20 euros each to counterfeiters, the identity cards were split to allow the photo to be changed, before being resold "between 1,000 and 3,000 euros per unit to candidates for immigration", explained to AFP a source at the border police.
The "kit" comprising several identity documents could be cashed 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).
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Languedoc-Roussillon
Marseilles
Traffic
Montpellier
Identity
Paper