Caught in Panama’s Tocumen International Airport: Vietnamese Nationals with Fake Japanese Passports
Vietnamese citizens were apprehended at Tocumen Airport with counterfeit Japanese passports. They spoke neither Japanese nor English and had attempted to enter Mexico using fraudulent South Korean documents.
Immigration officials denied them transit through Panama and ordered their return to their country of origin. Panama – Two Vietnamese nationals were apprehended by the National Migration Service at Tocumen International Airport while in transit through Panama with allegedly counterfeit Japanese passports. During routine immigration checks, neither of the two foreigners could speak Japanese or English, only Vietnamese. A more thorough inspection confirmed the suspicions. The passports showed inconsistencies in their security features, indicating to the agents that the documents had been altered.
They Bought the Documents in Thailand
During the secondary interview, the foreigners confessed that they had obtained the passports in Bangkok, Thailand, for $500 each. There, they were given Japanese documents and discarded their Vietnamese passports. But the case didn’t end there. When authorities shared information with other countries, they discovered that weeks earlier, both foreigners had already attempted to enter Mexico using forged South Korean passports and other identities. Furthermore, one of the Japanese passports they were now using belonged to a legitimate Japanese citizen.
Deported and Without Transit
As a result, Immigration denied them transit through Panama and ordered their return to their country of origin.
