Two men aged 26 and 21 were arrested at Paphos airport and remanded in custody for five days for attempting to fly out of Cyprus using stolen and forged documents, police said on Saturday.

The new arrests are part of a recent surge in such cases wherein third country nationals attempt to travel to European destinations using stolen or forged documents.

The first arrest was of a man of African descent who attempted to board a flight on Friday morning using a French travel document.

The document was traced back to Interpol’s stolen and lost travel document database, where it had been reported as stolen on September 15, 2015.

Police also arrested a second African man who attempted to fly to France using suspicious travel documents, which later proved to be forged.

During questioning, both suspects admitted to their crimes and gave police their real details, authorities said.

Paphos police said that investigations were still ongoing.