NEW YORK, NY March 06, 2008 —The NYPD has charged more than three dozen people with running and operating an ID theft ring in Queens - but officials say the operation stretched as far as Asia.

The suspects allegedly used stolen credit card numbers from a supplier in China to manufacture forged credit and identification cards. The ring went on shopping sprees all over the country - purchasing high end electronics and handbags totaling at least $1 million. Queens D.A. Richard Brown says the thieves also breached homeland security while they traveled:

BROWN: I think particularly disturbing in this case in addition to the whole ID theft aspect of it is the fact some of these people were boarding aircraft and purchasing tickets to get on commercial aircraft with fraudulent documents.

REPORTER: The stolen items were sold at a slightly discounted rate on the Internet. Thirty-one of the defendants were arranged yesterday in Queens. Many of them face several years in prison.