Attempt by Iranian carrying own passport to enter Sri Lanka on stolen travel document thwarted

A 40-year-old Iranian was yesterday nabbed while attempting to enter Sri Lanka through the BIA using a stolen Italian passport. Authorities said that he was trying to reach Europe via Colombo. The Iranian was arrested when he presented an Italian passport at an Immigration counter at the BIA. Sources said that the Iranian flew in on Air Arabia flight G9-502 from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Upon arrival, the man had presented an Italian passport to immigration officers to obtain an on-arrival visa. However, when the passport details were checked against Interpol’s database of lost and stolen passports, it has been flagged as being reported stolen.

Immigration authorities had immediately referred the case to the Central Bureau of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where the stolen status of the passport was confirmed.

While investigations were underway, the Iranian national had attempted to re-enter the country using his original Iranian passport. He had presented this at another immigration window, but his move was detected, and was brought to the attention of the officers handling the case.

The Italian passport had been forwarded to the Immigration Department’s Border Control Unit for further technical checks, which confirmed that the travel document had been indeed flagged as stolen. During the investigation, officials uncovered that the Iranian national had planned to use Sri Lanka as a transit point to enter Europe.

He was sent back to Sharjah.