28-year-old Indian national was refused entry into the US after the border authorities found that he was travelling with a fraudulent German passport. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers intercepted the Indian national on Monday at the Washington Dulles International Airport.

Authorities declined to prosecute the Indian man, who was refused admission to the United States. Due to privacy laws, the man's name was not released as he was not criminally charged, a CBP release said. The Indian national arrived from Accra, Ghana and presented the German passport to a CBP officer during the inspection. The officer detected discrepancies in the passport's biographical page and referred the man to a secondary examination, during which CBP officers were unable to access the passport's electronic chip and suspected it to be altered or damaged.

US Customs and Border Protection 

When questioned, the man admitted to purchasing the passport in Ghana. CBP officers seized the passport and refused the Indian national admission to the United States, the release said. CBP's Director of the Baltimore Field Office Casey Durst said the agency's officers are skilled at detecting impostors and fraudulent identity documents.

The nation's security is dependent on CBP officers doing their job, recognizing those who are attempting to enter by illegal means among the millions of travellers who enter the country for legitimate purposes, Durst said.

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In screening both foreign visitors and returning US citizens, CBP uses a variety of techniques to intercept immigration violators, narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, prohibited agriculture goods, counterfeit consumer goods, and other illicit products, and to assure that global tourism remains safe and strong. During 2018, CBP officers and agents intercepted an average of 16 fraudulent documents every day at and between the nation's 328 ports of entry.

Delhi Airport bust

Meanwhile, a 32-year-old impersonator was held by the  CISF personnel at the Delhi airport. The man was apprehended for impersonating as an 81-year-old octogenarian passenger on September 9 while travelling from India to New York on a fake passport. The man arrived in a wheelchair with white dyed hair and beard to board the flight to New York at the Mumbai Airport, however, was recognised by the officials as Jayesh Patel, a resident of Ahmedabad. He had allegedly used a fake passport under the name of 81-year-old Amrik Singh.

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Speaking in the matter, the CISF officials stated that the passenger looked suspicious to Central Industrial Security Force officials when they were frisking and the suspect said he cannot stand up from his wheelchair. They added that he was avoiding eye contact with the officials during the checks as well which made them more suspicious of the man. They later put the man through multiple detailed checks, after which his identity was revealed. The officials stated that the appearance and skin texture of the man appeared to be younger than what was mentioned in his passport. 

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(With PTI inputs)