The National Police have dismantled an organization dedicated to the forgery of documentation related to international protection applications that allowed foreign citizens to fraudulently access the Spanish labor market. The investigation, carried out from the town of Orihuela in Alicante, has so far resulted in 60 people being arrested as alleged perpetrators of document forgery crimes, although the operation remains open and further arrests are not ruled out.
The investigation began at the end of 2025, when the Local Immigration and Borders Brigade of Orihuela received, through police coordination channels, information about the possible use of forged international protection application receipts by citizens of Colombian nationality. These documents were used to fraudulently register with Social Security and gain access to employment despite being in an irregular administrative situation in Spain.
The investigation began at the end of 2025
The initial inquiries focused attention on several companies in the agri-food sector located in various municipalities of the Vega Baja region and also in the province of Murcia. Investigators detected that several workers had been hired after presenting manipulated documentation that appeared to prove a legal status that in reality did not exist.
The documentation under investigation was linked to international protection applications. The granting of asylum rights entails the recognition of various rights, including authorization for residence and work. According to the National Police, the organization altered authentic documents to simulate that applicants had already met the necessary deadlines to legally work in Spain.
In most cases, the forgery consisted of modifying the submission date of the international protection application. In this way, the beneficiaries appeared to meet the requirements to obtain work and residence authorization, thus facilitating their hiring by companies in Vega Baja and the Region of Murcia.
In some documents, the holder’s photograph was replaced
Agents also detected another type of fraud. In some documents, the holder’s photograph was replaced, allowing a foreign citizen to work using the identity of another compatriot who had obtained residence and work authorization but had subsequently returned to their country of origin. That documentation was reused by another person who remained irregularly in Spain.
As a result of the first phase of the investigation, twelve foreign citizens who were working without authorization thanks to the use of these manipulated documents were arrested. At the same time, investigators also acted against the administrator of the company that had hired them, considering that there was evidence that he knew about the fraudulent nature of the documentation presented by the workers.
The progress of the inquiries allowed agents to locate the place where the forgeries were allegedly regularly carried out. The investigation led to a call center located in the center of Orihuela, an establishment frequented by citizens of South American origin.
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According to the National Police, in this establishment the original international protection application receipts provided by the applicants themselves were manipulated. After inspecting the establishment, agents arrested the call center manager and one of its workers for their alleged involvement in the creation of the forged documentation.
The investigation continued to expand and detected another company in the same sector where a significant number of Colombian workers were registered using allegedly altered documents of this type.
Once the irregularities were verified, the Police arrested four of these workers as alleged perpetrators of document forgery and identity theft crimes. Likewise, the sole administrator of the company was arrested after it was discovered that he was allegedly the one who forged the documentation later used by employees to formalize their hiring.
The inquiries did not end there. Investigators identified a third company that could have been a victim of this scheme, as a significant part of its workforce had also allegedly presented manipulated documentation related to international protection applications.
The collaboration of several companies with the investigators was crucial to continue reconstructing the operation of the organization and locate new suspects. Thanks to this cooperation, the operation has so far allowed the arrest of a total of 60 people, all of foreign nationality, for their alleged participation in this document forgery scheme.
The National Police keep the investigation open with the aim of determining the full scope of the organization, identifying other possible collaborators, and clarifying whether more companies are affected by this fraudulent hiring system. Agents do not rule out that new arrests may occur in the coming weeks within an operation that has uncovered a mechanism designed to facilitate irregular access to the labor market through the manipulation of official documentation.
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