After an eight-month investigation, Rio police this week dismantled a network that had provided 72 Syrian immigrants with fake Brazilian identification documents, news reports said Wednesday, according to AFP.
The network had provided the Syrians with birth certificates, identity cards, voters' cards and passports, according to the government news agency Brasil.
The group was headed by a 71-year-old Syrian with a permanent visa in Brazil, Ali Kamel Issmael.