Cancun, Q.R. — Two people involved in a fake visa scam were arrested at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Venezuela. The man and woman were detained after elements of the Guardia Nacional Bolivariana de Venezuela found more than 100 Mexican visas in the luggage of a woman who had just arrived from Cancun.
The Venezuelan Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, said that the detainees were identified as 34-year-old Greimar Polanco N and 40-year-old Argenis Ramírez N, both Venezuelan citizens.
The arrests were made when the National Guards detected that Polanco, who had landed on a flight from Cancun, was found trying to enter the country with 109 visas for Mexico. During her interrogation, she admitted there was a second person involved in the fake visa scam.
From the airport parking lot, elements of the National Guard proceeded to arrest Argenis Ramirez N. Both are reportedly being charged with forgery and falsification of international documents. Both are reported to belong to an organized crime group.
On social media, the Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Defensa posted “GEDO (Structured Organized Crime Group) was dismantled by arresting two citizens at the Simón Bolívar International Airport who tried to return to the country with 109 Mexican visas.”
At the beginning of 2022, the government of Mexico began requesting Venezuelan nationals have a visa prior to entering the country.
Last week, Elements of the Servicio Extranjero y Fronterizo (SEF) in Lisbon, Portugal arrested 12 after they attempted to board a plane bound for Cancun using fake identification.