A Spaniard posing as an asylum “seeker” hoped to fly from Vilnius to Norway.
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On Tuesday evening, officers of the Palanga Border Guard Station of the VSAT Coastal Guard Border Unit, while carrying out internal border control and migration process supervision at the border with Latvia, stopped a route bus traveling from Riga to Klaipėda near the village of Būtingė for inspection.
An African illegally left a migrant accommodation facility in Latvia, intending to pose as a Spaniard and fly from Lithuania to Norway.
Checking passengers’ documents, the border guards noticed a young man who presented them with an identity card of a 30-year-old Spanish citizen.
VSAT officers immediately doubted its authenticity, and upon closer inspection, determined that the presented personal document was suspected to be forged (a complete forgery).
The foreigner who had already used the suspected forged document was disembarked from the bus, detained, and placed in custody.
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During the investigation, border guards found that this man was issued a certificate from the Latvian Foreigners Registration Center in June. From this, the true identity of the detainee was revealed: a 22-year-old Ethiopian citizen tried to pose as a Spaniard.
According to preliminary data, the Ethiopian illegally crossed the Latvian border from Belarus. After applying for asylum, he illegally left the migrant accommodation facility in Latvia, intending to fly from Lithuania to Norway.
A pre-trial investigation has been initiated in the VSAT Pre-trial Investigation Department for document forgery or possession of such a document, led by a prosecutor from the Klaipėda District Prosecutor’s Office of the Klaipėda Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
For this criminal act, the law provides for a fine, restriction of liberty, arrest, or imprisonment for up to four years.
After completing all necessary procedural and legal actions, such persons are usually handed over to Latvian authorities.
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