From the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, a scheme was devised to travel to the peninsula using travel documents that made the travelers appear as residents, with the added benefit of reduced or subsidized transport costs. The scheme relied on the appearance of legitimate residency in these territories to claim travel allowances as if they were residents, a hoax that mirrored fraud schemes seen in other regions where regional subsidies are tied to local residency. The scheme’s aim was clear: access cheaper or free travel by presenting false documentation that supposedly confirmed residency in the Melilla or Ceuta area, thereby exploiting the state’s transport support programs.
To implement this approach, the beneficiaries allegedly used counterfeit travel certificates. The documents suggested residency in one of the enclaves, and, as is often the case in these frauds, recipients would travel to the peninsula, benefiting from subsidies designated for Melilla residents, whether coming to the mainland or returning home. The scale of the deception points to a broader pattern where official documents are forged to simulate eligibility for travel allowances, seeding opportunities for illicit gains within the system.
manager
In a statement released yesterday, authorities described a police operation that led to the dispersion of the group and the arrest of nine individuals. Two of the detainees reportedly filled management roles within the scheme, while others had ties to Melilla or resided in the area. Official communications indicated that at least one person from Elche and another from Alcoy were among those taken into custody. All those detained were said to have used documents that mimicked local government issues to justify travel to the peninsula, effectively exploiting the travel subsidies intended for Melilla residents during ferry journeys.
Investigators traced the case back to intelligence gathered by National Police units that identified four suspicious travel certificates during the 2021 operational checks. The verification codes associated with those certificates were found to be counterfeit, revealing a deliberate attempt to misrepresent eligibility for transportation subsidies.
residents
The forged credentials were used by a mix of Melilla residents and other individuals located on the mainland, necessitating cooperation with police forces in Elche and Alcoy to dismantle the network and arrest those involved. In this phase of the case, authorities confirmed that everyone implicated in the operation shared a role in creating, distributing, or using the counterfeit documents to secure ferry travel on favorable terms.
Further evidence indicated that some minors were among the people using the falsified documents, and that in several instances accompanying adults also carried the forged paperwork when purchasing boat tickets. The broader pattern suggested by these findings includes families traveling with unauthorised documentation, raising concerns about the reach and impact of the fraud across different age groups.
The investigation has progressed to a point where nine suspects face formal arrest warrants, with the possibility of additional arrests as inquiries continue and more testimonies are gathered. The crimes under active review include document falsification and fraud related to transport subsidies, with authorities pursuing all leads to identify the total scope of the operation and its participants.