A Senegalese man was arrested and deported yesterday (23) at Katunayake Airport for attempting to enter Sri Lanka using a forged Brazilian passport.

The 35-year-old arrived at the airport at around 5:45 AM on SriLankan Airlines flight UL-218 from Doha, Qatar. When he presented the Brazilian passport at the Immigration counter, officers became suspicious and referred the document to the Border Surveillance Unit. Technical checks confirmed that the passport was fraudulently made.

During a subsequent luggage inspection, authorities found the man’s genuine Senegalese passport hidden, along with an airline ticket for a flight to Kathmandu, Nepal.

The individual has been handed over to SriLankan Airlines and deported back to Doha, Qatar, from where he had arrived.