Sneaky passport gangs try new tactic.Lookalikes 'talent spotted' to aid illegal

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Sneaky passport gangs try new tactic

Lookalikes 'talent spotted' to aid illegal entry
Published: 11/04/2011 at 03:18 AM
Bangkok Post: Online news: Crimes  

Criminal gangs have found a new way to help their "clients" enter a country illegally without using fake passports which are often detected by immigration police.

In the past, gangs forged information on a passport while often using a genuine picture of their client.

Now, gangs supply genuine passports to their customers, but with a lookalike's picture.

Customers who come to gangs wanting passports include criminals who want to disguise their identity, or people on the run.

The challenge is to find people who look like their clients.

"The gangs are acting like modelling agencies. They do some casting and keep photos of many people," said Immigration Division 2 commander Preecha Thimamontri.

Gangs will compare a customer's face with those of people in a pool of photos and genuine passports in their possession.

If the gang cannot find a match, it will go out and find a person with a face that looks like that of its customer's.


From public parks to department stores, the gang searches for lookalikes as if it is looking for a promising would-be model or talented star for the entertainment business, he said.

When the gang meets a lookalike, it devises a way to steal his passport, or will perhaps offer to buy it.

In some cases, gang members hire people who do not yet possess a passport to apply for one and then sell it to them.

Or the gang suggests its target complains that his passport has been stolen.

This will enable him to apply for a new passport later.

Although this method is time consuming and expensive, Pol Maj Gen Preecha said customers of the gangs prefer it because genuine passports are safer than fake passports.

The gangs have adopted this method after police crackdowns on passport forgery gangs resulted in many members being arrested.

Pol Maj Gen Preecha has encountered many cases of illegal entry into Thailand.

His unit oversees travellers arriving and departing from Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Khon Kaen, Phuket and Chiang Mai airports.

Officials have to check carefully that the holder of a passport is the same person whose photo appears on the document.

"One traveller we arrested was found to have undergone facial surgery to make his face look similar to the photo in the passport he was holding," Pol Maj Gen Preecha said.

One or two suspects using the new method are arrested each month, and the trend is on the rise, he said.

Criminal gangs who use thise method are mainly in South Asia, South America and South Africa. They often use passports issued by Australia and countries in Scandinavia, Pol Maj Gen Preecha said.

 
Immigration officers are taught how to observe the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and the shape of the face to improve their skill in verifying passport holders.

Officers who can detect irregularities are awarded 3,000 baht for each suspect they can identify, he said.

Ears are hard to change through plastic surgery, Pol Maj Gen Preecha added.

Some European countries urge their citizens to have themselves photographed side-on so they can show their ears.

Immigration officer Kemanat Leekaewsai said police could not easily jump to conclusions just because a holder may not look like the person who appears in his passport.

People's faces change over time so they no longer resemble their passport photos.