Two detained in passport scam

JAKARTA (JP): Immigration officials have detained two Pakistanis who tried to use black market Canadian passports to leave the country.

Immigration director for supervision and control Zaiman Nurmatias said yesterday Muhammad Shahid Rathore, 25, and Sajjad Ahmad Khanpur, 26, were arrested at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after officials became suspicious about the passports.

"Muhammad and Shahid held Canadian passports, bearing the numbers VN 504183 and VB 587465 respectively, and were on their way to join their friends living in Canada," Zaiman said.

During questioning, the two acknowledged they also bore Pakistani passports C 14763 issued in Rawalpindi and B 777875 issued in Peshawar, Zaiman said.

They used the Pakistani documents to enter Jakarta via Singapore on May 27.

The men were about to board a flight to Hong Kong when officials noted discrepancies in the passports, Zaiman said. They confessed to buying their Canadian passports and plane tickets for US$17,000, he added.

The arrests were just the latest in a spate involving foreigners. Zaiman said immigration officials barred entry to 59 foreign nations in May for reasons ranging from insufficient funds to their inclusion on the official blacklist. (hhr)