Officers from the National Police, in collaboration with the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), have intercepted a total of 807 forged Venezuelan driving licences prepared to be exchanged for Spanish licences, detaining 802 people in various provinces, including Alicante and Murcia.
The interventions of the documents were carried out during a police operation that has operated throughout three phases and that has also allowed the intervention of another 296 Spanish permits that had already been exchanged. 802 people have been detained in 19 Spanish provinces, the National Police reported in a press release.
The detainees obtained the false documentation through social networks, where criminal groups located in Venezuela charged them an average of $90 and promised to deliver the Venezuelan driver’s licence in two or three days, by post. Since August 2017, a new format has been issued in Venezuela that does not meet the legal requirements for the exchange process, which is why these citizens resorted to criminal groups to obtain a forgery of the previous format.
The fraud had spread throughout the Spanish territory because, in the cities with the greatest presence of Venezuelan citizens, they had difficulties getting an appointment at the Traffic Headquarters, so they requested them in less crowded border headquarters. As a result of what happened, the General Directorate of Traffic has suspended the exchange procedure with Venezuela since March 15, 2021.
The investigation, which began at the beginning of 2020, has culminated in the arrest of 802 people in Alicante (62), Asturias (22), Badajoz (4), Barcelona (17), Cáceres (4), Ciudad Real (16), Guipúzcoa (41), Jaén (4), Las Palmas (18), Madrid (185), Malaga (123), Murcia (23), Pontevedra (6), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (154), Seville (16) , Toledo (38), Valladolid (56), Zamora (4) and Zaragoza (9). Their holders have not been able to prove that they have a legal driving licence, with the consequent danger that this poses for road safety.
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