By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana

In a classic case of human smuggling, a man attempting to transport an unknown woman to Italy with his wife’s travel documents was stopped by the Immigration and Emigration Department officials at the airport.  

Immigration officials stationed at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) Departure Terminal conducted a random search on Wednesday night and took a couple in for questioning on suspicion.   

A senior official told the Daily Mirror the couple was bound for Malpensa, Italy through Doha on Qatar Airways flight QR 655 from Colombo.   

The officials at the immigration department’s Border Surveillance Unit (BSU) searched the documents and found the woman was possessing someone else’s travel documents including a passport and an Italian permanent resident visa card.   

When questioned she had admitted that the man she was accompanying was supposed to take her to Italy and for that she had paid Rs.3.6 million to a travel agent in Kurunegala.   

The officials questioned the 40-year-old male to understand that he was a permanent resident of Italy and had obtained a cash fee from an agent to transport the woman under his wife’s travel documents.   

Preliminary investigations revealed that the male had returned to Sri Lanka recently on holiday and he had brought his wife’s travel documents along to facilitate the human smuggling job for a fee believed to be of Rs.2 million.  

The 28-year-old woman, who is believed to be a resident of Kurunegala along with the male had been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department Unit at the BIA for further investigations.   

Senior officials of the Immigration and Emigration Department Investigation Division are conducting inquiries.