A man has been jailed after being caught at Stansted Airport trying to smuggle fake ID documents into the UK – including one concealed inside a hollowed-out telephone directory.

Pakistani national Qumar Ghulam, 33, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday (February 2). He had admitted three counts of possessing false identity documents with intent.

Ghulam, of no fixed UK address, had been stopped by Border Force officers when he arrived at Stansted Airport on November 27 last year on a flight from Barcelona.

When officers searched his luggage they found a Spanish ID card, a Spanish driving licence and a Spanish passport. All the items were fake.

Ghulam was arrested and the case was passed to Home Office investigators.

Stuart Cooper, from the Home Office Criminal and Financial Investigations Team, said: “Had Ghulam succeeded in bringing the false EU documents into the country they could have been used to as part of fraudulent applications by immigration offenders to remain in the UK.

“He had concealed the items throughout his luggage – including one that had been hidden inside a hollowed out section of a Barcelona telephone directory. The fact that his smuggling attempt was unsuccessful is testament to the expertise of my colleagues in Border Force.”

Ghulam will be automatically considered for deportation at the end of his sentence.

The Criminal and Financial Investigations Team consists of warranted Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers working alongside seconded police officers to investigate organised immigration crime.

Border Force officers are on the front line of the fight against immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country.

Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling can call 0800 59 5000.