The State Border Guard Service (SBGS) officers at Vilnius Airport detained a Turkish citizen who presented a passport with a suspected counterfeit Schengen visa and an Italian border crossing stamp.

According to preliminary information, the foreigner entered the Schengen area illegally. On Thursday evening, the SBGS officers at Vilnius Airport were checking the documents of passengers flying to Istanbul.

During the border control, suspicions were raised by the Schengen visa affixed to the passport provided by the 22-year-old Turkish citizen. The document was further examined, revealing that the visa was forged. It was printed on a non-original blank with an inkjet printer, does not have embossed features, and used a non-original hologram.

Upon a detailed examination of the document, SBGS officers became suspicious of the Schengen border crossing stamp on the passport. It does not match the established pattern, and only black ink was used for the stamp.

According to SBGS, the man admitted that he had illegally entered one of the countries belonging to the Schengen area.

The Turkish citizen has been temporarily detained in the temporary detention facilities of Vilnius Border Guard Station.

Pre-trial investigation has been initiated by the SBGS Vilnius Border Guard Station into the forgery or possession of a forged document, led by the prosecutor of the 2nd Criminal Prosecution Division of the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Under the law, such a criminal act is punishable by a fine, arrest, or imprisonment of up to three years.