ISIS Has Whole Fake Passport 'Industry' Says Officials
The
terror group ISIS has created a whole “industry” out of the
production of fake passports, a high-level French official said
today.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters that
through ISIS’s operations in Syria, Iraq and Libya, the group has
acquired blank passports and has now set up a “real fake
document industry.” Cazeneuve made the statement following a
meeting with top European officials where he proposed setting
up a new task force to help nab people attempting to come
into the European Union with fake papers.
Last month ABC News reported that U.S. intelligence suspected
ISIS had acquired thousands of blank Syrian passports and at
least one passport printing machine after taking over
government offices in Syria. Officials from Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) said in a 17-page report that the terror
group has likely been able to print legitimate-looking Syrian
passports since at least last summer – and raised the
possibility that people using the forged documents have snuck
into America.
“Since more than 17 months [have] passed since Raqqa and
Deir ez-Zour fell to ISIS, it is possible that individuals from Syria
with passports ‘issued’ in these ISIS-controlled cities or who
had passport blanks, may have traveled to the U.S.,” the HSI
report says.
US Intel: ISIS May Have Passport Printing Machine, Blank
Passports
The report notes that the primary source for the information
was rated at “moderate confidence,” the second-highest rating
given for source assessments. Testifying before lawmakers
days after the HSI report was circulated to American authorities,
FBI Director James Comey first publicly revealed the nation’s
top security officials’ very real anxiety over the problem.
“The intelligence community is concerned that they [ISIS] have
the ability, the capability to manufacture fraudulent passports,
which is a concern in any setting,” Comey said.
Former Department of Homeland Security intelligence official
and ABC News consultant John Cohen said in December, “If
ISIS has been able to acquire legitimate passports or machines
that create legitimate passports, this would represent a major
security risk in the United States.”
Fake Syrian passports have already been discovered in Europe,
most notably two used by suicide bombers in the horrific
terrorist attack on Paris in November. The two men are
believed to have slipped into Europe with a flood of Syrian
refugees fleeing the violence in their homeland.
According to the source that provided the passport information
to HSI, Syria is awash in fake documents.
“The source further stated that fake Syrian passports are so
prevalent in Syria that Syrians do not even view possessing
them as illegal,” the report says. “The source stated fake Syrian
passports can be obtained in Syria for $200 to $400 and that
backdated passport stamps to be placed in the passport cost
the same.”
ABC News' Rym Momtaz contributed to this report.
production of fake passports, a high-level French official said
today.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters that
through ISIS’s operations in Syria, Iraq and Libya, the group has
acquired blank passports and has now set up a “real fake
document industry.” Cazeneuve made the statement following a
meeting with top European officials where he proposed setting
up a new task force to help nab people attempting to come
into the European Union with fake papers.
Last month ABC News reported that U.S. intelligence suspected
ISIS had acquired thousands of blank Syrian passports and at
least one passport printing machine after taking over
government offices in Syria. Officials from Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) said in a 17-page report that the terror
group has likely been able to print legitimate-looking Syrian
passports since at least last summer – and raised the
possibility that people using the forged documents have snuck
into America.
“Since more than 17 months [have] passed since Raqqa and
Deir ez-Zour fell to ISIS, it is possible that individuals from Syria
with passports ‘issued’ in these ISIS-controlled cities or who
had passport blanks, may have traveled to the U.S.,” the HSI
report says.
US Intel: ISIS May Have Passport Printing Machine, Blank
Passports
The report notes that the primary source for the information
was rated at “moderate confidence,” the second-highest rating
given for source assessments. Testifying before lawmakers
days after the HSI report was circulated to American authorities,
FBI Director James Comey first publicly revealed the nation’s
top security officials’ very real anxiety over the problem.
“The intelligence community is concerned that they [ISIS] have
the ability, the capability to manufacture fraudulent passports,
which is a concern in any setting,” Comey said.
Former Department of Homeland Security intelligence official
and ABC News consultant John Cohen said in December, “If
ISIS has been able to acquire legitimate passports or machines
that create legitimate passports, this would represent a major
security risk in the United States.”
Fake Syrian passports have already been discovered in Europe,
most notably two used by suicide bombers in the horrific
terrorist attack on Paris in November. The two men are
believed to have slipped into Europe with a flood of Syrian
refugees fleeing the violence in their homeland.
According to the source that provided the passport information
to HSI, Syria is awash in fake documents.
“The source further stated that fake Syrian passports are so
prevalent in Syria that Syrians do not even view possessing
them as illegal,” the report says. “The source stated fake Syrian
passports can be obtained in Syria for $200 to $400 and that
backdated passport stamps to be placed in the passport cost
the same.”
ABC News' Rym Momtaz contributed to this report.
Post a Comment