A few weeks ago Finnish customs authorities found 180 blank passports in the possession of a Belgian man at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. The blank passports were Belgian, French, and Italian and had no pictures or names on them.

   

The man was travelling from Thailand, en route to London. During a stopover in Helsinki he was stopped and inspected by Finnish customs.

   

The investigation was soon handed over to the National Bureau of Investigation, who learned that the man had delivered more than 300 blank passports earlier this summer on two occasions, once to Germany and once to Britain.

   

He was also carrying hundreds of passport labels and plastic films used to cover the pages of a passport.

   

The 48-year old man has been released from custody and has left the country. According to Ari Soronen of the National Bureau of Investigation, the man’s role was purely that of a courier. The main organisers of the ring are elsewhere, and officials in other countries are continuing their investigation.

The passports were very skilful

forgeries. Police believe that they might have been used later to help in the smuggling of people from other countries.

   

Forged blank EU passports are a valuable commodity on the black market, as they can allow a person to assume a different identity.

   

Thailand has long been known as a source of counterfeit passports.

   

The terrorist attacks on the United States occurred at the time of the investigation into this case, leading to suspicion that the production of blank passports might be linked with international terrorism.

   

The Finnish Security Police were also informed about the arrest. Ari Soronen says that there is no indication yet that there would be any connection between the case and the terrorist attacks in the United States.