The director general of the Border Guard Board, Roland Peets, told the border service established in the six months 60 cases of illegal border crossing and detained 78 illegals.
Sixty-two illegal border crossers were caught on the border with Russia and 16 at the air border, i.e. at the Tallinn airport.
From January 1 till July 9 border guards detected 16 persons who sought to enter Estonia with fake documents.
In 13 cases involving five nationals of Colombia, four Chinese, two Peruvians, one Senegalese and one Nigerian forged Schengen visas were used. In addition, three Jordanian citizens attempted to enter Estonia on the strength of counterfeit Belgian residence permits.
In the first half of 2007 border crossers presented forged papers in 11 instances.
Looking at the statistics for the first half of 2008, using counterfeit documents, crossing the border illegally in areas between crossing points, and entering Estonia legally but staying here with a view to taking up illegal residence and finding a job remain the main methods of illegal immigration.
In January-June 34 percent more illegal immigrants were captured than during the same period last year, Peets observed. The respective numbers are 30 and 23.
Border guards also detained 78 wanted individuals at the border in the six months.
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