A GANG of passport forgers have been sentenced to a total of more than twelve years for helping people to work illegally in the UK.

The group of Brazilian Nationals ran a sohpisticated factory from their home in Windsor Road, Leyton, which had been making Spanish and Portuguese identity documents, driving licences and UK national insurance cards.

A police search of the factory uncovered high-tech card printing equipment, two safes containing forged documents, 300 blank Spanish Italian and Portuguese passports and 400 blank Portuguese ID cards.

There was also dry embossing stamps bearing official passport crests ready to be placed on the front covers of the counterfeit passports.

The gang were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, after pleading guilty on January 8.

DC Janet Barracks, from Maxim, SCD6 Economic and Specialist Crime Command said: "This was an organised document factory manufacturing passports from start to finish. I believe the gang were producing EU identities to enable non-EU citizens to remain in the UK illegally and to gain employment.

“This has been a very successful multi agency operation targeting a sophisticated criminal network, putting them out of business once and for all."

A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: "This case shows the lengths that organised criminals will go to in order to break immigration laws.”

24-year-old Wyllkynstom Cabral Correa, the ringleader of the criminal enterprise, admitted to being responsible for the machinery while stating that he was looking after it for an associate that had retuned to Brazil.

He was sentenced to five years and six months for the possession of criminal apparatus, and 18 months for possessing documents with intent, to run concurrently.

Rodrigo Uehara Dias, 24, was sentenced to 20 months for the possession of criminal apparatus. 58-year-old Auretiano Nunes Moreira was sentenced to three years in prison for the possessing criminal equipment.

Two women, both married to Correa and Dias are due to be deported to Brazil following the court case. Holanda Moreira Silva, 21, wife of Correa, and Vanessa Silva Moreira Uehara, 23, who is married to Dias pleaded to possessing identity documents with intent and were both sentenced to 12 months in prison.

All five will be deported when they have served their sentences.