The French authorities raided a lab specializing in the fabrication of fake Bulgarian, Romanian, Portuguese, and former Yugoslav Republics’ IDs, the French Le Figaro informs.

The criminal network operated in the departments of Val-de-Marne, l'Essonne and la Seine-Saint-Denis, near Paris.

French police believes that the skillfully made fake IDs were used by many Eastern European emigrants in the Paris region to illegally receive social assistance and live on welfare.

On Friday, 8 of the forgers faced the judge in Créteil, southeast of Paris, and were charged with the manufacturing and use of fake IDs and assisting the illegal entry and stay of foreigners in France.

The illegal lab was discovered by authorities Wednesday in an apartment in Vitry-sur-Seine, near Paris. The criminals are said to be mostly Romanian and Moldavian citizens, who also made fake university diplomas, labor contracts, insurance policies and invoices.

In addition, the criminal network dealt with theft of alcoholic beverages with a supermarket security guard as accomplice.

The group is alleged to have been managed by Eastern European mafia structures, Le Figaro writes.