Gibraltar police using latest monitoring equipment Credit: Royal Gibraltar Police
A Moroccan man banned from entering Gibraltar since 2019 has been arrested after being identified by police facial-recognition technology, while a second man has been detained over an allegedly fake British passport at Gibraltar Airport.
Details of both cases were reported by the Royal Gibraltar Police, with the arrests highlighting how Gibraltar’s police and border officers continue to enforce immigration rules following the removal of the old border fence.
The first man, a 40-year-old Moroccan national identified as M.B., was flagged by the Royal Gibraltar Police’s live facial-recognition system on Sunday, October 11, in the frontier area.
Officers from the force’s Response Team arrested him after the system identified him. He was charged with being in Gibraltar in breach of an entry ban, contrary to the territory’s Immigration, Asylum and Refugee Act.
Man was extradited to Spain in 2019
The man was already known to Gibraltar police. In October 2019, he was extradited to Spain under a European Arrest Warrant issued in connection with Operation Iceberg.
The joint investigation by the Royal Gibraltar Police and Spain’s National Police dismantled an organised criminal group involved in the illegal trafficking of migrants between Morocco, Gibraltar and Spain.
An entry ban was imposed on the man following his unlawful presence in Gibraltar. He appeared before the Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 13, and remains on remand at Windmill Hill Prison. He is due to return to court on Tuesday, October 20.
Pakistani man arrested over fake British passport
In a separate case, a 22-year-old Pakistani national was arrested at Gibraltar International Airport on Thursday morning, October 15.
The man, identified as M. A. H., allegedly presented a counterfeit British passport bearing his personal details to officers from the Gibraltar Borders and Coastguard Agency during departure immigration checks.
He was preparing to board a booked flight to the UK when officers detected irregularities on the document’s biometric-data page. Further checks confirmed that the passport was fake. He was taken to New Mole House police station, questioned and charged with possession of a forged or irregular passport, as well as being in Gibraltar without the required legal status.
After appearing before the Magistrates’ Court on Friday, October 16, he remains in custody at Windmill Hill Prison until his next court appearance on October 23.
Security continues after the Verja’s removal
The two cases go to show that the removal of Gibraltar’s old frontier barrier has not ended immigration enforcement. The new UK-EU arrangements took effect on July 15, 2026, bringing the physical Verja to an end while leaving police and border officers responsible for identifying people suspected of breaking the law.
In one case, facial-recognition technology alerted police to a man subject to an entry ban. In the other, airport checks exposed an allegedly counterfeit passport. Both men have been charged and remain in custody pending further court proceedings.