Four nationals of Pakistan have been arrested in Thailand for being involved in Schengen visa fraud.
According to the Thai authorities, the four Pakistanis have been carrying out illegal activities for quite some time now and have scammed several people who wanted to reach the European Union, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
As the deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, Phanthana Nuchanart, explained, the individuals who have been arrested claimed to offer Schengen visas in exchange for money.
As revealed, through an organised operation, the police found that the Pakistanis involved in the case required those interested to secure a visa for Europe to pay an amount of €7,000.
They required those wanting to obtain a visa to complete a visa application form and submit their passport. Usually, within a period of two weeks, they would return the passport with a forged visa sticker and would get the money from the applicants.
The Thai police have already searched the group’s place and have seized several visa applications.
They have also identified the nationals of Pakistan involved in this case and stressed that their visas have been revoked and they will be deported.
Schengen visa fraud cases are alarmingly very common in countries whose citizens need the document to enter the Schengen Area.
Earlier in October, eight people were arrested in Morocco over the suspicion of their involvement in the forgery of Schengen visa documents.
The Moroccan police said back then that the eight individuals used the forged documents to facilitate irregular migration to the EU.
The police further said that the suspects also face charges of human trafficking.
As Morocco World News explained, the eight individuals were arrested in three different cities during simultaneous operations.
The operations took place after the Moroccan authorities suspected that these individuals forged administrative documents as well as other documents that are needed to apply for a Schengen visa.
During the operations, the Moroccan police seized fake documents and equipment used to create such documents, including a computer, stamps as well as other electronic devices.
At that time, the police said that all the suspects would be kept in custody for further investigation so that the relevant authorities could reveal more details related to this case and detect other people who might be involved in this network.
The police said that they will be in search of other people as soon as they uncover more details.