Police Bust Tenerife Marriage Scam
National police have broken up a crime ring thought to be responsible for arranging more than 600 marriages of convenience across Spain, including here in Tenerife.
Since the investigation began in June this year, police have arrested 67 people across the country, 15 of them Spaniards and the rest Nigerians.
All are accused of falsifying documentation in order to allow foreigners to get residence in Spain.
The crime syndicate is thought to be the most active of several involved in the illegal trade, including here in the Canary Islands.
In June, police became suspicious when they noticed a big rise in the number of requests for residency coming from Nigerian nationals, supposedly married to Spanish citizens.
All had celebrated their marriage in the same church in Palma.
Subsequent investigations revealed that all the Nigerians had Baptismal certificates, needed to get married in the Catholic Church, signed by the same priest in Nigeria.
The gang charged the Nigerian hopefuls 15,000 euros, 12,000 of which went into the pockets of the crooks, with the other 3,000 euros going to the EU national prepared to enter into the marriage.