Bolivian jailed over false passport at Edinburgh Airport
18.02.09
A Bolivian man arrested in connection with an alleged mass people smuggling operation at Edinburgh Airport has been jailed for one year after admitting possessing a false passport, the Evening News reports.
Boris Velasco was detained at the airport along with 18 other Bolivians after arriving on a flight from Bolivia via Frankfurt last November. Four months earlier, in a related incident, 40 Bolivians were refused entry to the UK after landing at Aberdeen Airport. However, they were released to return to the airport the next day because of a lack of holding cells and all but two absconded.
Mr Velasco, a 30-year-old pilot from Bolivia, faced charges under the Immigration Act, relating to organising illegal entry into Britain. But Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told he was not aware of his involvement in the alleged people smuggling operation and was himself duped into travelling to the UK. He pleaded guilty instead to possessing a false passport at the airport and was sentenced to a year in jail today, and will be deported to Bolivia after he has served his sentence.
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