The National Police led a coordinated operation that involved AMERIPOL, INTERPOL, the Brazilian Federal Police, the Dominican Republic’s National Police, and Madrid’s Municipal Police. The goal was to dismantle an international criminal organization engaged in the illegal trafficking of people of Dominican origin between the Caribbean nation and Spain. The operation disrupted the group’s leadership and curtailed its ability to move migrants across borders. [Police sources]
Police sources say 36 people were detained, 34 in Madrid, including the two primary leaders of the network who have been remanded in custody, with two more arrests in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. The arrests reflect a broad, multi-jurisdictional effort to curb illicit flow. [Police sources]
Look alike
Migrants bypassed border controls using the look-alike method, by which they used valid passports belonging to compatriots who had been naturalized in Spain, with whom they shared a reasonably similar appearance. The tactic allowed entry into Spain by exploiting documents that appeared authentic. [Investigation notes]
The police investigation began in October last year after a series of tips received from the AMERIPOL Center against Trafficking in Migrants in Brazil, where Spain maintains a permanent liaison officer. [Investigation files]
The police cooperation agency in the American continent pointed to the possible existence of a transnational organization based in Spain, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil, whose aim was to enable Dominican citizens to enter Spain irregularly by fraudulently using authentic Spanish documents. [Cooperation reports]
Packages of 5,000 euros
After collecting information and conducting initial inquiries, officers detained eight Dominican-origin individuals with Spanish nationality in Madrid who are believed to have sold their passports to the organization under investigation for about 500 euros. The passports obtained in Spain were transported by members of the network to the Dominican Republic, where they were handed to the migrants recruited in exchange for sums around 5,000 euros. Those sums also covered airline tickets and temporary lodging in transit countries, primarily Brazil, before their final departure to Spain. [Investigation notes]
Second phase
In the second phase of the investigation, officers arrested seven more members in Madrid, including the two top leaders who have been placed in provisional custody, and 19 additional people who had sold their passports to the gang. In four searches conducted in Madrid, authorities recovered a vehicle, seven mobile devices, 13 passports, two fake foreign identity cards, 30 grams of cocaine, and 3,440 euros in cash. Additionally, National Police officers traveled to the Dominican Republic to participate in a coordinated operation that ended with the detention of two more members of the network, one in Brazil and another in the Dominican Republic, responsible for logistics and migrant recruitment. [Police sources]