Police on Sunday said they were investigating a forgery case after a 24-year-old man attempted to depart the island using a fake passport.

The man, who is from Afghanistan, arrived at Paphos international airport at around 8.30pm on Saturday.

He presented a Spanish passport to board a flight to Italy, however, suspicions were raised regarding the security features of his travel documents during airport checks.

The 24-year-old gave a police statement during which he admitted he was an asylum seeker.

He was arrested for forgery.