19 arrested with fake travel documents at Chennai airport

Among them, 12 from Gujarat were being sent to Canada on fake documents while three are agents, officials said, adding that four others are dance trainers.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) have arrested all of them, including three women, all from Gujarat, when they tried to board the flight using fake travel documents.

On Sunday night, the 19-member group came to the city to board the Lufthansa flight to Canada via Frankfurt that was scheduled to take off at 1.50 am. When the immigration officials scanned their passport and visa, they found the documents to be fake.

During the inquiry, the group reportedly told that they were from Gujarat and part of a dance team. They added that they were going to Canada to participate in a concert.

However, all the 19 were forced to cancel their trip and immigration officials handed them over to the CCB’s fake passport wing. CCB, after a preliminary enquiry, found that they were not a part of any dance team.

All of them had bought visa and passport from an agent in Gujarat after paying Rs 2 lakh each. CCB have arrested all the 19 of them and further enquiries are on to nab the agent who forged the documents, added sources.

Customs officials at the city airport on Monday seized four drones and dozens of other gadgets including iPhones and Apple Watches worth Rs 23 lakh and gold worth Rs 12 lakh from four passengers, including two women, who arrived from Singapore on Sunday.

According to Chennai Customs, 9 iPhone X, 5 iPhone 8, 32 Apple Watches, 40 Redmi 5A, 1 Redmi note5, six phantom 4 PRO drones, 48 drone batteries and 400-gram gold were seized from four passengers. Sources added that the women caught with contraband were residents of Chennai while the two men hailed from Sivaganga.