Lankan caught in bid to travel to Canada with fake IDs

A Sri Lankan national has been caught attempting to travel to Canada via Taiwan using fake Canadian identification cards, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said Tuesday.

The 24-year-old man was discovered by immigrant agents at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport late Monday to be holding a fake Canadian permanent resident card when he was waiting for a transit flight to Toronto, the agency said.

A fake Canadian citizenship card, health card and driver's license were seized from his luggage after a search, according to the NIA. When questioned by the immigration agents, the man said he was a truck driver in Sri Lanka and was planning to work in Canada, where the pay is much better.

He disclosed that a human trafficking ring had helped him arrange the trip for a price equivalent to about NT$120,000 (US$3,690). He had made a transit stop in Singapore before arriving in Taiwan. The man was repatriated back to Sri Lanka after questioning, the NIA said. (FocusTaiwan newschannel)