Authorities in Spain and France, with the support of Europol, have dismantled a counterfeit document factory in the Spanish city of Alicante. Law enforcement officers have confiscated about 800 European identity documents, reports IPN.
As part of an international operation, a suspect was arrested and approximately 800 counterfeit European identity cards were seized, along with production equipment, digital devices, a vehicle and the sum of 1,580 euros. The activity was taking place in a rented apartment, which was also under false documents. According to investigators, the illegal factory was using industrial-scale production methods, a trend increasingly encountered within organized criminal groups.
The suspect is accused of running an online platform through which he sold fake identity and administrative documents, both in physical and digital format. According to the Europol report, these documents were primarily used by migrant trafficking networks to facilitate illegal border crossings, fraudulent acquisition of residency rights and unauthorized movements within the European Union.
The operation comes in the context of strengthening European efforts to combat this phenomenon and the adoption of a new EU regulation in December 2025. Also, in March 2026, the European Center against Migrant Trafficking was established within Europol. The new structure aims to improve coordination between law enforcement agencies, such as Frontex and Eurojust.
