A suspect charged with human trafficking and forging Schengen visa documents has been arrested by Nador’s National Security in cooperation with the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST).
A security source from authorities in Morocco said that the suspect operates within a criminal network that has a history of forging administrative documents required in order to obtain European visas.
According to a report from Morocco World News, the suspect was charged for alleged involvement in irregular immigration operated within a criminal network that has a history of forging administrative documents needed to hold a European visa.
In addition, the suspect was found holding forged documents, commercial records, work certificates, a set of stamps, and fake marriage contracts, in addition to receipts for cash transfers, according to the source.
The National Security database shows that the suspect is wanted by the National Judicial Police Division and the Royal Gendarmerie Services of Settat on suspicion of his involvement in counterfeiting, selling and distributing drugs.
The report from Moroccan World News also notes that a judicial investigation is being conducted under the supervision of the relevant public court to identify all persons involved in committing these criminal acts.
Cases of suspects’ involvement in the forgery of documents related to the Schengen visa applications are not few in Morocco. In October last year, Moroccan police arrested eight suspects for their alleged involvement in document forgery.
The suspected persons were arrested in Oujda, Nador, and Berkane simultaneously following suspicions of them forging administrative documents, banking records, and other documents needed for travel visa applications to European countries.
The figures from Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) for 2022 revealed that the police detained a total of 32,733 people attempting to migrate in an unlawful way, taking into account a total of 28,146 foreigners from various countries. During the same year, police officials identified and seized nearly 832 false travel documents.
During the same year, a total of 423,201 Schengen visa applications were filed by Moroccans, thus topping the list of African countries with the most Schengen visa applications filed for 2022.
According to a report from SchengenVisaInfo.com, more than half of those applications received a positive response, or 57.5 per cent of applications, thus representing 282,301 requests.
