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Students at six Waikato schools have been making fake drivers' licences, often on school computers, to help them buy cigarettes or alcohol or to get into bars, police say.
Constable Murray MacDonald of the Hamilton Police Liquor Licensing Team said police had recovered 18 fake licences since June.
Ten 16- to 18-year-olds have appeared in court for altering or using forged documents, while a "large number" of other students have been spoken to.
Mr MacDonald said some of the licences had been made in school computer suites, but would not confirm which Hamilton schools these were. He said this was a matter for the schools and the Ministry of Education.
"Those involved have predominantly been underage and are playing for high stakes with the maximum penalty for such offending being up to 10 years' imprisonment," said Mr MacDonald.
"It's fraud and not only can the person presenting the fake identification be prosecuted but the owner as well."
Meanwhile, a Hamilton teenager says making fake licences is "pretty simple".
The 16-year-old, who goes to a Hamilton secondary school and spoke to the Herald on the condition he remain unnamed, said anyone with access to a computer scanner, a colour printer with photo-quality paper and a laminator could "easily" produce one.
The cost: "About $1.50 for all the materials."
"They're not just for getting into bars, some people are using them to buy smokes at dairies or they will use them to buy alcohol at bottle stores.
"It can be hard to get them to fly past some bar staff though."
Alan Menzies, the manager of popular student bar The Outback Inn, said some of the drivers' licences his door staff had seen were "quite convincing".
"Some of them are quite good but if you do look at them quite closely you can tell. Then again, we've seen some shockers like some people who have completely different skin complexions."
He said he, along with many other bar owners, feared the effect the fake identification could have on their businesses.
His staff document each incident and retain the fake identification before sending them to police.
Waikato police communications manager Andrew McAlley said the operation was "not that sophisticated" although to a lay person they appeared "quite genuine".
"There are a number of anomalies such as missing watercolours, missing ghost pictures, bar code anomalies and duplicate numbers."
He said there was no information to support suggestions the fake identification had been part of a commercial or organised crime operation.
