Criminal organisation dedicated to obtaining driving licences illegally dismantled

The Guardia Civil and the Municipal Police of Madrid, within the framework of operation CARSHINOVEL, arrested 18 people belonging to a criminal organisation dedicated to obtaining driving licences fraudulently.

The organisation impersonated people who, because they did not have the necessary knowledge to obtain a class “B” driving licence, paid other people to falsify their identity documents and take the exams.

Those interested who wanted to obtain a driving licence contacted, either through social networks or through trusted people, the members of the criminal organisation. They asked for their identity document and a financial amount that ranged between 400 or 500 euro.

Next, the organisation falsified the identity document of the person who had to take the exam, either in its entirety or by only replacing the photograph with that of the impersonator. They were normally people with similar biometric features and who would take the theoretical exam in their own location. Once the exam was completed, the impersonated person paid the entire agreed amount, a total of between €1,500 and €2,000.

It should be noted that the impersonators had sufficient knowledge and passed the theoretical exams, in some cases in up to six minutes. Normally they took one exam a week, but some of them took exams two or three times in a week.

Likewise, to recover the driving licence due to the total loss of points, they followed a procedure similar to the previous one, in which they requested a certain amount of money and in collusion with a driving school, it would issue the certificates of completion of the driving courses, without having attended said courses.

The operation has been carried out in different Spanish provinces, where the impersonators went to take the theoretical exam, proceeding to enter and search three homes, two in Madrid and one in El Ferrol (A Coruña). The searches in Madrid have been carried out in a driving school and two hospitality establishments, where the procedures for falsifying documents were carried out.

During the searches, numerous computer equipment was seized, as well as mobile phones, where they made and falsified the identity documents that were delivered by the impersonated people.

It should be noted that one of the detainees was taking the driving test after having passed the theoretical part illegally.

The operation remains open for the location, after the analysis of the seized material and those documents that have been found, in order to assess a revocation of the driving licence of those people who have obtained it through this criminal organisation.