An Israeli man and woman in their 20s were arrested a few days ago at the airport in Quito, Ecuador as they were about to leave the country to fly to Madrid, Ynet reported on Monday.

The security check before their flight revealed that the two were Iranians posing as Israelis and their Israeli passports were forged. Their Iranian passports were found in their possession as well.

The Ecuadorian security authorities have not yet ascertained why the two were holding forged Israeli passports and are examining the possibility that they are connected to Iranian intelligence services. The Iranians also used the forged passports to enter Ecuador, one of the countries where Israeli citizens are allowed to enter without a visa.

The Israeli embassy in the capital city of Quito reported the incident to the Population and Immigration Authority, who found that one of the forged passports used the details of an 11-year-old girl in the Judean lowlands (Shefela), who has the genuine passport in her possession, and the other passport had the details of an Israeli man who had recently reported that his passport was stolen.

The Authority believes that the details from the girl’s passport were copied when it was photocopied abroad at a hotel on travel agency.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)