Police charge 15 after passport raids

A new British biometric passport is shown atop a special reader can take the holder's information off an embedded security chip, during a showing for the press at the British Embassy in Washington, in this October 24, 2005 file photo. Police have charged 15 people after raids on illegal passport factories and suppliers, Scotland Yard said on Friday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Police have charged 15 people after raids on illegal passport factories and suppliers, Scotland Yard said on Friday.

More than 100 officers took part in dawn raids at 13 addresses across London on Wednesday, backed by officials from the Immigration Service, the Identity and Passport Service, South Yorkshire Police and the Department of Work and Pensions.

Those charged were two Brazilian women, ten Brazilian men and three Algerian men.

They were charged with a range of crimes including the possession and manufacturing of counterfeit passports and identity cards.

Seven were remanded in custody at Croydon Magistrates Court on Thursday. The others will appear in court on Friday.

Officers said they had also seized 40,000 pounds in cash, false passports, driving licenses and foreign ID documents.