North Carolina Reports Growth in Fake ID Labs

Officials in North Carolina say they are seeing an alarming growth in the size and sophistication of the fake identification business.

The Charlotte Observer reports that at the end of October, the state Division of Motor Vehicles had recorded 373 arrests for driver’s license fraud, which includes both manufacturing and possessing fake IDs. That’s more in 10 months than the 294 arrests made in all of 2008.

Allen Page, deputy director of the state Alcohol Law Enforcement Division, said authorities used to find fake ID makers primarily on college campuses. Page said the labs are now popping up all across the state.

The DMV is fighting back. In September, the agency finished shifting its operations so that all driver’s licenses are issued from its central office in Raleigh.