Interpol says foreigners seeking to join Islamist militant groups are beginning to take cruise ships to their war-torn destinations rather than go through airports, where the security is comparatively much tighter.
“There is evidence that the individuals, especially in Europe, are traveling mostly to Izmit and other places to engage in this type of activity,” said Pierre St. Hilaire, director of counterterrorism at Interpol, reports the Associated Press.
Izmit is a coastal town in Turkey, which is a popular gateway into Syria and Iraq for foreigners bent on joining militant forces like ISIS.
Seeking to close the loophole, international police speaking in Monaco also announced plans to expand I-Checkit, a program that lets airlines, banks and hotels screen customer passport information against Interpol’s database of Stolen and Lost Travel Documents.
I-Checkit has been tested at AirAsia, a low-cost airline based in Southeast Asia, and has since June led to 18 people not being allowed to board their flights because of security concerns raised.
Read more at the Associated Press.
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Write to Elizabeth Barber at elizabeth.barber@timeasia.com