Passport robbery ‘inside man’ jailed

23 October 2009

A courier who claimed he was the victim of a robbery shortly after picking up thousands of blank passports and visas from a printing works was jailed today, along with four members of the gang he alleged had robbed him.

Alan Burke pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and was sentenced to four and half years in prison. Nearly 11,000 passports and visas were stolen in the raid on 28 July 2008. They were destined for RAF Northolt, from where they would have been sent to British Embassies worldwide. Greater Manchester Police, whose joint investigation with SOCA led to the arrest of Burke and the other gang members, estimated the black market value of the passports and visas to be around £2.5 million. The majority of the documents were recovered earlier this year.

Detective Chief Inspector Pete Marsh of GMP’s Major Incident Team said:

“This was an extremely serious crime and a great deal of work has gone into finding the people responsible. The implications of these documents being available for use by criminals both in the UK and abroad meant this gang had to be caught quickly and a team with investigators from many agencies working together has achieved this.”

Steve Baldwin, SOCA’s Head of Investigation in the North West, said:

“If you try to exploit the UK passport and visa system, expect no leniency from the law. Together with UKBA, the Foreign Office, and other partners we are making life hard for organised criminals who want to target the UK’s borders.”