Investigations also uncovered a fake Dutch embassy, the State Department said. Officials in the Netherlands were not immediately reachable for comment on Sunday.
“It was not operated by the United States government, but by figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organised crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney practising immigration and criminal law,” the State Department said in a statement.
The criminal gang had freely issued illegally obtained authentic visas for a decade before it was raided, according to the US State Department.
“The criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored,” the statement said.
It had operated from a pink two-storey building, flying a US flag outside. Inside, a portrait of President Barack Obama decorated the “official” premises.
The criminals posed as consular officers. The crime network issued fraudulently obtained but legitimate US visas and false identification documents, including birth certificates at a cost of $6,000 each, the statement said.
A number of arrests have been made, while authorities also seized authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and Schengen Zone visas and 150 passports from 10 different countries along with a laptop and several smart phones.
The fake embassy operated for three mornings per week but no walk-in appointments were accepted. Instead, the criminals advertised on billboards in Ghana as well as neighbouring African countries Togo and Ivory Coast.
Their clients were brought from across West Africa to Accra where they rented them hotel rooms in nearby hotels, as visas for White western countries are in high demand in Africa. Many embassies believe their visa systems have been targeted by organised crime.
It is not yet clear how many of the authentic visas had been issued, or how many people had illegally obtained entry into the EU or the US and other countries using visas issued by the crime syndicate.
