Shabelle] Kenyan police are questioning nine suspects involved in a fake passport and visa cartel after being tossed in the clinkKeep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
with 68 forged documents in Nairobi late on Wednesday.
Head of Special Crimes Prevention Unit Noah Katumo told journalists in Nairobi on Thursday that the suspects including a police officer and a Kenya Airways staffer were found with 29 fake passports and 39 visa seals found on them in a security operation in Nairobi
"We are questioning the nine suspects whom were arrested on Wednesday with fake passport and visa documents. We do not know how many people have managed to pass the airport using these fake documents but we are trying to establish. It seems to be a serious cartel," Katumo said on Thursday.
He cautioned the people behind the racket of dire consequences, saying using or printing a fake passport is a threat to national and international security.
According to Katumo, the suspects include two Æthiopians, two Somalis and two Bangladesh nationals, adding that the Kenya Airways staffer is believed to have been helping other suspects with fake papers to pass through the airport.
Police involved in the operation said the foreigners arrested in Ngara residential estate were headed for Mozambique, South Africa and Angola and later in Europe using the fake papers.
The fake visa documents are for European countries, the officers said. The operation also recovered laptops, printers and laminating machines from the house in Ngara.
Katumo said they are looking for an official at the immigration department after he was mentioned in the cartel and investigations. He said security operations on the other missing and wanted persons are ongoing.