23. Memorandum submitted by
Merseyside Police
Merseyside Police International Crime Unit have
dealt with a growing number of organised document abuse cases
involving foreign nationals, supplied with documents to either
enter the UK, to remain in the UK or to fund employment in the
UK.
Operation **** identified thirty-six Russians
who were supplied with counterfeit SAL forms enabling them to
obtain work in the agricultural industry all were subsequently
removed from the UK. The organiser was a South African national
with possible links to Russian organised crime he was imprisoned
and subsequently deported.
Operation **** was set up to investigate the supply
of counterfeit identity documents originating from China with
links into Liverpool. The intelligence from that work suggests
that Chinese people seeking illegal entry to the UK are paying
up to £20,000 for false documents to organisations including
"14K Triad".
Operation **** involved a member of staff who worked
for the Immigration Directorate. This staff member was countersigning
bogus passport applications for identities that had were known
to have been hijacked. Nineteen were identified of which five
were arrested. Others that were identified were major Liverpool
criminals. Photographs of the other 15 were seen and they appeared
to be foreign nationals. The member of staff from the Immigration
Directorate received a prison sentence.
These types of scams are a big problem and the seizing
of counterfeit documents at Liverpool Airport is common. It is
quite obvious that the documents have been purchased from a third
party. In such cases the Immigration Service would return the
individual to the country in which the flight was boarded without
prosecution.
Merseyside Police believes that this problem does
appear to be increasing. The availability of quite basic IT enables
people without any great skill to manufacture counterfeit documents,
and the force is aware that the aliens department in Amsterdam
have thousands of counterfeit British passports.
Merseyside Police is the base for the Irish and West
Coast Ports Analysis Centre and able to produce evidence of large-scale
misuse of identity documents to gain illegal entry into the UK.
As this issue is predominantly within the remit of the immigration
service the analysis centre has not produced a problem profile
as to do so would take up the resources of the whole unit. However
the "Scams" are used by individuals in whom the unit
have an interest. Travel routes of those involved have been plotted
and are of considerable intelligence value to the analysis centre
and the group as a whole
The analysis centre takes all intelligence generated
by ports officers across the 16 forces of the group and seven
forces of the North East ACPO area. A search of the database for
the last five months has produced 25 incidents where differing
methodologies have been used. These were summarised on six pages
and are condensed further below:
— Three Lithuanians bought false passports
for $6,000 including fares to Dublin via Bucharest and Naples.
They were stopped at Larne purporting to be working as farm labourers.
— One male arrested at Liverpool airport
in possession of stolen Italian ID card. Had convictions for possession
of firearms with intent to endanger life. Had served three years
in UK before being deported. Tried to gain re-entry only two months
after release.
— Two individuals at Liverpool seaport
claimed to be Moldavians who had arrived (so they said) a month
previously at Heathrow. The possessed a receipt for a small package
that they had posted home, believed to contain their passports
for re-use.
— Four men on same ship into Liverpool
tendered one French (altered) and three forged Belgian passports.
The forgeries were fairly professionally carried out.
The men all claimed they were Iranians and claimed
asylum. One had several small bottles of hydrogen peroxide in
his luggage.
— Five foot-passengers were stopped
at Liverpool seaport, the leader claimed to be a tour operator
and they had come from Malaysia via Amsterdam, Dublin and Belfast.
They all had the documents stamped in Dublin with authority to
enter the UK. All five decided to return to Belfast. The tour
leader is believed to be a facilitator.
— A couple arrived at Liverpool seaport
presenting forged Italian identification. They were searched and
the female had a Brazilian passport. The male was believed to
be trafficking for the sex trade.
— Lone female stopped at Liverpool
seaport en route to Leeds to meet with individuals who are involved
in facilitation. Her route was South Africa, Amsterdam, and Dublin,
Belfast to Liverpool She paid 10,000 Rand for the trip.
— Two males travelled from Lithuania
to London on false passports via Belfast and Stranraer.
— Kenyan male with a false passport
detained in Glasgow.
— A male from Copenhagen, arrested
in Glasgow in possession of false French passports, turned out
to be Algerian.
— A male examined at Glasgow who had
arrived from Dubai found in possession of 170 blank French passports,
which turned out to be counterfeit. This male had requested wheel
chair assistance and also admitted to using Regional airports
to avoid the more robust security measures at larger airports.
— Another male detained at Glasgow
from Dubai, found in possession of five Indian passports. The
holders of the passports were probably already in the UK.
— Algerian born British passport holder
examined at Glasgow having been arrested in Bangkok in possession
of 450 stolen EU passports.
— One Guinean male arrested at Holyhead
for use of a false Belgian passport.
— Two men from Somalia were arrested
at Liverpool said a facilitator had transported them across Europe,
but retained their passports at Dublin.
— Newcastle Airport has 25 instances
of Chinese individuals arriving using false/stolen Japanese passports.
— A man from Somalia detained at Glasgow
in possession of false Canadian documentation having tried to
enter the UK previously.
— A package intercepted at Liverpool
Airport contained 11 blank Nigerian passports and one Gambian
passport destined for Manchester.
— Albanian woman arrived at Liverpool
Airport with forged Lithuanian passport. She claimed to have been
forced into prostitution in Milan.
— One Brazilian woman arrested at
Liverpool Seaport having previously been returned to Brazil having
tried to gain entry at Heathrow on a forged British Passport.
— Two Chinese nationals detained at
Bristol Airport having disposed of their passports in the plane
toilets.
— Two individuals detained at Liverpool
Airport having arrived on a Ryanair flight from Rome they had
two forged Korean passports that they tried to dispose of in the
toilets. They claimed to have paid 30,000 euros each for the passports
and the trip.
— Two Indian males in the Leicester
area facilitated an individual from Mozambique found to be in
possession of a passport stolen in Marseille.
The information provided is current and represents
experience in a busy metropolitan area with both air and seaports.
G Wood
Assistant Chief Constable
Operations Support
13 February 2006
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