{"id":652,"date":"2026-03-31T21:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T19:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=652"},"modified":"2026-05-17T07:19:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:19:29","slug":"chinese-gang-smuggling-fake-documents-to-illegals-busted-in-athens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/chinese-gang-smuggling-fake-documents-to-illegals-busted-in-athens\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Gang Smuggling Fake Documents to Illegals Busted in Athens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The authorities dismantled a Chinese ring that manufactured and distributed forged documents while \u201chosting\u201d undocumented foreigners in special locations around Athens.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The organized police operations took place on March 22 and 23 by the Athens Subdivision for the Investigation and Solving of Crimes.<\/strong> Three <strong>ringleaders<\/strong> of the group were arrested. They are two <strong>Chinese<\/strong> men aged 50 and 52, and a 51-year-old female compatriot.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The charges against them include<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>forming and participating in a criminal organization,<\/li>\n<li>forgery,<\/li>\n<li>forging certificates,<\/li>\n<li>violations of the Migration Code and legislation on foreigners,<\/li>\n<li>facilitating illegal entry and exit from Greece for profit,<\/li>\n<li>possession of forged travel documents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Besides the ringleaders, the authorities <strong>arrested six other Chinese individuals, aged between 19 and 53, for illegal stay in the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>How the criminal organization operated<\/h2>\n<p>The operation of the ring started at least as early as September 2025. The perpetrators facilitated the <strong>illegal transport of foreigners without legal documents.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Initially, they supplied them with <strong>air travel documents belonging to third parties.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Then, the individuals were <strong>transported by vehicles inland and from there by buses to Kifisos.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There, the organization would take them over and lead them to illegal (i.e., \u201cinvisible\u201d to the Greek authorities) hostels in Athens.<\/p>\n<p>These locations contained beds, forgery workshops, and storage facilities for the forged documents.<\/p>\n<h2>Financial profits and seizures<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The cost of each illegal transportation ranged between 5,000 and 10,000 euros.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During the investigations, <strong>the authorities seized<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>13 asylum seeker cards,<\/li>\n<li>four passports,<\/li>\n<li>35 stamps,<\/li>\n<li>four residence permits,<\/li>\n<li>electronic equipment,<\/li>\n<li>cash amounts exceeding 4,000 euros,<\/li>\n<li>numerous handwritten notes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At the hostels themselves, six foreigners without legal documents were found and arrested.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, two vehicles used by the ring for transportation were confiscated.<\/p>\n<h2>The arrested individuals and the continuation of the investigation<\/h2>\n<p>All detainees were brought before the competent prosecutor. Investigations continue to fully clarify the ring\u2019s operations and to identify any other accomplices.<\/p>\n<h2>A huge national security issue<\/h2>\n<p>As anyone can understand, a ring that was bringing all sorts of undesirables into Greece, right under the nose of the Greek authorities, was dismantled\u2026<\/p>\n<p>How dangerous this is, especially in the wartime era we live in, is also easy for anyone to comprehend\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greek authorities dismantled a Chinese-led ring near Athens involved in forging documents and smuggling undocumented migrants, highlighting critical security vulnerabilities amid ongoing investigations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[158,210,100,4024,539,138,149,534],"nfg_topic":[134],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-athens","tag-china","tag-greece","tag-greece-conservative-parties","tag-immigration-crime","tag-migrants-criminality","tag-migration","tag-police-operation","nfg_topic-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}