Diplomatic Security Helps Colombian Police Bust Visa Counterfeiting, Human Trafficking RingsBureau of Diplomatic SecurityWashington, DC March 21, 2008 Two Criminal Enterprises Taken Down Within a Week Two joint investigations conducted by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) and Colombian police have shut down criminal syndicates involved in human smuggling and the sale of counterfeit U.S. visas. On Feb. 26, 2008, Colombian police arrested five individuals in Bogotá on charges of document and credit card counterfeiting. During a raid on the suspects’ office, police seized a large cache of counterfeit documents, including bogus U.S. and Canadian visas, credit cards, bank checks, and Colombian police and military identification cards. The investigation began in early December 2007, when a Colombian federal police investigator met with special agents from DS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to examine a counterfeit U.S. visa obtained from the criminal enterprise. The following month, Colombian police placed the suspects under surveillance and obtained further information on the scope of the counterfeiting ring. On Feb. 20, 2008, an undercover Colombian police officer purchased a counterfeit U.S. visa for the equivalent of about $1,300 from the suspects. Four days later, police raided the counterfeit operation. The Bogotá arrests marked the second raid in a week against Colombian criminals involved in the production and sale of false documents. On Feb. 19, Colombian police arrested eight suspects, including seven medical doctors and one Colombian official in the southwestern city of Cali on charges of human trafficking, conspiracy, and producing and selling false identity documents. The arrests were a continuation of a case that began in late 2005, when consular officers at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota determined that false identity information had been provided during the U.S. visa application process for a Colombian child. Diplomatic Security personnel alerted Colombian law enforcement authorities, who then opened an investigation. The first phase of the Cali investigation led to the arrest of 19 persons in May 2007 and the subsequent arrest of the main suspect in the operation on Sept. 6, 2007. Using information from these suspects, Colombian police collaborated with DS to investigate and arrest the other eight individuals. In both investigations, DS provided Colombian police with funding, materials, and investigative and evidence-analysis assistance. Additional investigative support was provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was essential to the success of the investigation. “Counterfeit or fraudulently obtained passports and visas are potential threats to the national security of the United States. Foreign nationals who have acquired passports and visas fraudulently or counterfeit travel documents to enter the United States could perpetrate further illegal acts, including terrorism,” said Charlene Lamb, Acting Director of the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. “Diplomatic Security’s regional security office in Bogotá maintains an excellent working relationship with Colombian law enforcement personnel that permitted the successful closure of these illegal international operations,” Lamb said. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the U.S. Department of State’s law enforcement and security arm. The special agents, engineers, and security professionals of the Bureau are responsible for the security of 285 U.S. diplomatic missions around the world. In the United States, Diplomatic Security personnel protect the U.S. Secretary of State and high-ranking foreign dignitaries and officials visiting the United States, investigate passport and visa fraud, and conduct personnel security investigations. In 2007, DS logged 1,955 arrests globally, primarily for passport and visa fraud, including 406 arrests overseas in cooperation with foreign police. Read more in the U.S. Department of State’s Visa and Passport Security Strategic Plan at: http://www.state.gov/m/ds/rls/rpt/79895.htm. Additional information about the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security may be obtained at www.state.gov/m/ds Contact: Darby Holladay |
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