Some 22 arrests were made following a series of raids last Wednesday across the capital, in areas that included Walthamstow, Ilford, Brixton, Kilburn and Bermondsey.

Police found an alleged counterfeiting factory at one of the sites. However, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police could not confirm what printing equipment, if any, had been confiscated.

Charges include possession of false identification documents, possession of Brazilian passports with forged immigration stamps, possession of counterfeit Portuguese identity cards and possession of apparatus to make false identifications.

Several of the accused have been remanded in custody after appearing at Croydon Magistrate’s Court last Thursday (22 March).

The raids involved more than 100 police officers and came under the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Maxim, which fights organised crime related to the UK’s immigration system.

The operation’s targets include illegal production of passports and human trafficking.