Portuguese police detain 10 foreigners for document forgery on Athens flights

The detentions

The Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP) detained 10 foreign nationals between 1 and 5 November at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon, on suspicion of document forgery. The suspects arrived on flights from Athens, Greece. Officers from the airport security and border control division (DSACF) in Lisbon found them during routine checks of passengers disembarking from those flights. The police found that the passengers were carrying travel documents that were allegedly false or altered, and that they were trying to enter Portuguese territory with them. The reports describe the ten as citizens of several different nationalities, without giving a breakdown.

Procedures after the arrests

The PSP's National Unit for Foreigners and Borders (UNEF) carried out the arrests in flagrante delicto. After formalising the detentions, police put the suspects through the mandatory legal procedures. They were then referred for a first interrogation before the competent judicial authority. The measures of coercion have not yet been disclosed, so the outcome of that hearing is not reported. The suspects are detained on suspicion. No charge or conviction has been reported.

Border control context

The PSP presents the operations as part of its permanent work to prevent and combat document fraud and the crime networks linked to cross-border movement. According to the force, the checks support security in the Schengen area and the integrity of border control systems. Both reports draw on the same police statement and carry the same dates and figures. The reports do not describe any other arrests or links between the ten suspects.