A woman is in police custody after she tried to fly out of Paphos airport with a document police suspect is fake.

Paphos police deputy chief Michalis Ioannou said the 21-year-old, who was intending to board a flight to the Netherlands, had presented a Portuguese ID card at Paphos airport passport control on Monday evening.

Suspicions arose that this document was fake as there were discrepancies as regards the security features.

The woman was questioned, and the ID taken in as evidence.

She was later arrested as checks through the asylum service’s IT system showed she was a citizen of the Congo who had applied for political asylum in December 2019.

Her application was rejected in May 2021 and in June she filed an appeal which is pending.