Police bust hi-tech passport forgery lab
Police in Athens have arrested a man accused of forging passports that he allegedly sold to migrant smuggling networks for between €600 to 900 each.
Police said that the man, who was arrested in a makeshift hi-tech lab in Agios Panteleimonas district, also distributed his bogus travel documents by post to Italy, Belgium, Bosnia and Turkiye.
In 2023, the same individual was arrested for the same offense in a joint police-Europol operation.
In the most recent raid, police found a fully functioning printing laboratory, including printers, scanners, a laminator and laser engraving device, and also seized 83 passports, 19 identity cards, 8 consular visas, 7 residence permits, 396 passport pages, 40 polycarbonate plastic pages, passport covers and blank inner pages,
Police believe that the proceeds from the sale of forged travel documents amounted to €220,000 in recent months.
The man has appeared before a prosecutor.
Kathimerini
