The Spanish police said Friday they had detained 20 people and charged them with swindling North Africans and East Europeans with promises of jobs and the regularization of their migratory status in Spain.

The gang, which included Spaniards and Moroccans, had robbed around 1,000 people and earned six million euros (7.2 million US dollars). The gang leader was among nine people arrested in the final phase of the operation.

The police said they believed they had broken up the gang, which had operated in Catalonia, northern Spain, as a result of the operation, which began in 2004.

According to the interior ministry, the gang would charge between 3,000 and 6,000 euros (3,600 to 7,200 dollars) for their fake services. The gang's North African and East European victims believed the fake companies would genuinely hire them for legitimate work and supply them with genuine residence documents.

Gang members pretended to be directors of fake companies the bandits had set up, and the phony companies changed locations frequently.

Source: Xinhua