Police Bust Counterfeit Documents Ring

Fort Worth police said they’ve caught a ring of criminals who were producing fake documents for illegal immigrants.

Investigators said the ringleader has a criminal history. He has been deported before and never should have been back in the United States.

The break in the case allegedly came from a tip about a group of illegal immigrants. Police and federal investigators spent six months conducting surveillance.

“They were going out and soliciting business. Handing out their business cards saying they could make government documents,” said Sgt. Pedro Criado.

Fort Worth officers, the secret service and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement team arrested nine men last Thursday. The suspected ringleader is Jose Mancera Rosas, they said.

Police said when they searched Rosas’ home on the border of Arlington and Fort Worth, they found document producing equipment such as computes, printers and laminating machines.

They confiscated IDs suspected of being sold to undocumented residents for $100 to $250 a piece.

“A lot of people were getting the documents to get a job,” Criado said.

The men were each charged with engaging in criminal activity and tampering with a government record. All are being held on a $25,000 bond, but an immigration hold will keep them from bailing out.