Organised Crime

Iranian planned flight to UK with forged French document

At the Poznań-Ławica International Airport, Polish Border Guard officers detained an Iranian citizen who was planning to fly to Great Britain, using a modified French identity card.

Border Guard officers from the Poznań-Ławica facility identified a man who had flown to Poland from the Greek island of Zakynthos. The man for inspection showed the officers an authentic French ID card. The inspecting officer immediately noticed traces of interference with the security of the document and photo exchange. A thorough analysis showed that the counterfeiter included a photo of the legitimate traveler in an authentic document.

The foreigner was detained. During the interrogation, he admitted that he is an Iranian citizen, and he bought a French document in Greece for three thousand euros. He added that he had already come to Europe in 2006. First he lived in Turkey and then in Greece. From 2015, he resided in Austria, where he applied for international protection. After some time he returned to Greece again. Now, on the basis of a converted document, he decided to go by air to Great Britain. Poland was supposed to be a transit country on this trip.

A 51-year-old Iranian citizen heard the accusation of using a modified French identity card as genuine. The foreigner pleaded guilty to the offense and voluntarily submitted to a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years probation.

The District Court in Poznań decided to place the foreigner in the Guarded Center for Foreigners in Krosno Odrzańskie until he was handed over to Austrian services under the readmission procedure.