Arrested For Selling False PCR Test Results In An Almería Farmacia

ARRESTED For Selling False PCR Tests With Negative Results In An Almería Farmacia

The National Police have arrested a 24-year-old man who is an employee of a pharmacy in El Ejido, Almería, accused of selling PCR tests with falsified negative results, at a price of €130 for each test, to citizens of Moroccan nationality to enable them to travel back to Morocco.

The accused also has his own business selling airline tickets to go abroad, and so far, seven incidents have been uncovered where these falsified PCR tests have been presented for travel to Morocco, and the police investigation remains open, as more cases are suspected to materialise.

As reported in a police statement, the accused worked in the pharmacy where antigen and antibody tests were taken, and results given, so it was easy for him to falsify the results to state that the person’s test was negative.

‘Operation Pharmacy’ was launched by El Ejido police on April 20, after they received intelligence on an illegal activity taking place in a pharmacy in the town, knowing that the PCR negative results are obligatory for travel, the investigating officers realised that such a black market operation was quite probable.

During the course of their investigation, the officers discovered an elaborate scheme in place, where the PCR, antigen, and antibody tests were sent from the accused’s place of work in El Ejido to a laboratory in Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, for analysis and issued a report, and then by gaining access online to the computer data stored in Barcelona, with his knowledge of Arabic, he could easily find and falsify the original document.

At the same time as selling the falsified test result, the man would offer the traveller the chance to purchase flight tickets to Morocco as well, in this way, diverting travellers to the pharmacy where he worked to be able to get the necessary PCR test result.

The man has been charged with the crime of falsifying documents and is awaiting sentencing, as reported by diariosur.es.

The Euro Weekly News is running a campaign to help reunite Brits in Spain with their family and friends by capping the costs of PCR tests for travel. Please help us urge the government to cap costs at https://euroweeklynews.com/2021/04/16/ewn-champions-the-rights-of-brits-in-spain-to-see-loved-ones-again/