The central bureau for judiciary investigations (BCIJ) said Thursday that it has dismantled a criminal gang which has branches in several cities of the Kingdom and is involved in the falsification of travel and residence documents used in facilitating and organizing illegal immigration operations. The arrest, part of the ongoing efforts to combat crime in all its forms, was conducted by the countering organized crime brigade on the basis of specific information provided by the directorate general for territory surveillance (DGST), said BCIJ in a statement. The preliminary investigations allowed the arrest of two would-be immigrants at the Mohammed V airport in possession of false residence documents, while they were heading towards a European country, the same source pointed out. Fourteen other individuals were also nabbed as part of this operation, including a woman and an Algerian national, involved in falsifying official administrative documents, in addition to intermediaries who target their victims among young people who dream of immigrating abroad, BCIJ stressed. The searches carried out led to the seizure of seals of several foreign embassies and the Kingdom of Morocco, as well as Moroccan and foreign passports in good condition, forged tax stamps, foreign residence permits and several other documents, equipment and devices used in forgery operations, in addition to cars, money and mobile phones. The investigations are still underway, under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor's office, to arrest all the suspects involved in these crimes.
