Iranian national arrested at BIA while attempting to flee to Europe using forged British passport
July 20, 2025 02:28 pm
An Iranian national has been arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) while attempting to illegally flee to Europe via Japan and Turkey using a forged British passport.
The 47-year-old Iranian national has been apprehended last night (19), by officers of the Border Surveillance Unit of the Department of Immigration and Emigration at the BIA.
He had arrived at the BIA at 8:00 p.m. to depart for Narita, Japan.
During his check-in process, officials who became suspicious of the British passport he presented referred him to the officers of the Border Surveillance Unit along with all his documents.
Technical inspections carried out at that point revealed that the passport had been fraudulently altered.
It was also uncovered that he had paid US$ 15,000 to a trafficker in Iran for the forged document.
Further examination of his wallet revealed his genuine Iranian passport and a flight ticket from Narita, Japan to Istanbul, Turkey, which he had concealed.
Following these findings, the Iranian national was handed over to the Airport Criminal Investigation Department officials for further investigations.
