Posted on 11/19/15
| News Source: Yahoo News
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Four of the five Syrians detained in this Central American country with stolen Greek passports this week are students and all say they were fleeing their country in hopes of refuge in the United States, Honduran authorities said Thursday.
Police spokesman Anibal Baca told BLU Radio of Colombia that the fifth Syrian is a professional worker, and all five will appear before a judge on charges of falsifying documents.
The men were detained Tuesday at the airport in the capital of Tegucigalpa by agents acting on an alert from Interpol about the passports.
Honduran authorities have not turned up any criminal history for the Syrians, and there has been no indication that they are suspected of anything except carrying stolen documents.
Baca said the men had intended to fly to the northwestern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula and then travel overland to the United States.
Authorities said the previous day that the Syrians initially traveled to Lebanon and Turkey, and then to Brazil, Argentina and Costa Rica before arriving in Honduras.
Honduras is a common route for migrants trying to reach the United States, but it's unlikely the men would have been able to use the stolen passports to enter the U.S.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers scan the passports of all travelers and have access to information about stolen documents.
Meanwhile another Syrian was detained Thursday morning in the capital of nearby Costa Rica, local media reported.
La Prensa Libre said the unidentified woman presented a false passport indicating she was of Greek nationality.
The newspaper reported that the woman was detained at a hotel in San Jose based on an Interpol alert and anonymous tips, and she could face up to six years in prison for the use of false documents.
La Prensa Libre quoted assistant prosecutor Celso Gamboa as saying a worker's failure to scan the passport properly allowed the woman to enter the country, and investigators were continuing to look into the case.