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Cases of impersonation and fake documents at airports on the rise

Larnaca airport

The increase in cases of impersonation and the presentation of fake documents during security and passport checks at Cyprus’ airports was discussed during a meeting at the police headquarters in Nicosia.

According to an announcement released by the police on Wednesday, around 230 incidents were recorded since the beginning of the year.

“Almost every day there are cases involving people attempting to travel mainly to Central Europe from Cyprus using fake documents or documents belonging to other people,” the announcement said, adding that specialised staff are now double-checking documents at Larnaca and Paphos airports in order to detect potential irregularities concerning travellers’ documents.

More than 90 cases involved people attempting to travel with forged documents, while around 140 related to cases of impersonation, where people presented documents did not belong to them.

Throughout 2021, police detected more than 110 cases of forged documents and 150 cases of impersonation.

From the beginning of the year until today, the Police, through the Aliens and Immigration Unit investigated over 50 cases of smuggling of illegal migrants and arrested 80 people. In 2021, only 30 cases were investigated, which resulted in 50 arrests.

The statement finally added that so far this year, 5,260 people were deported from Cyprus, of which 650 had to be held in police custody.

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