Two Afghans jailed for using fake British passports

The pair were arrested at Dubai International Airport. Authorities were also able to capture the forger

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Two men caught attempting to board a flight to the United Kingdom using fake British passports have been jailed for six months.

The pair, from Afghanistan, were arrested at Dubai International Airport after a British Airways employee grew suspicious of their documents.

The men told authorities they had flown into the UAE to purchase the fake passports from a Pakistani forger.

Detectives investigating the case were able to identify the contact and arrest him. He was found in possession of three other fake British passports.

“We are friends and wanted to travel to the UK but Afghans don’t get visas,” one of the defendants told Dubai Criminal Court.

“The man said to fly to Dubai and meet him at the airport’s Costa coffee shop. Once we landed, he’d hand us the fake passports, which he did.”

The exchange happened on February 27 this year with the two men, aged 27 and 30, each paying $20,000 for the fake passports.

The forgeries contained UAE residency stamps in an effort to assist with the deception but airline staff were still able to spot them as fakes.

Police later arrested a 32-year-old Pakistani man as he attempted to board a flight back to Pakistan.

Officers were aware an individual was flying into the country to sell fake passports after arresting three Afghan women with counterfeit documents two weeks beforehand.

“He admitted forging five passports; the two seized with the defendants and three others which he said he was supposed to hand to three customers who stood him up at the airport,” prosecutors told the court.

“He came to the county that same day for the only purpose of delivering the fake passports, and he then tried to leave Dubai the same day.”

Police discovered the man held a genuine UK passport and often flew to Dubai to sell on bogus documents, mostly to Afghan customers.

“Two weeks prior to this incident, three Afghan women carrying fake UK passports were arrested at the airport,” an Emirati policeman told the hearing. “They told us about the man so we kept him on our radar.”

The two Afghans were ordered to be deported after serving their sentences. The third man, the forger, also received a six month sentence.