"DATELINE" INVESTIGATES GLOBAL BLACK MARKET IN PASSPORTS - FRIDAY, DEC. 28

IN AN UNPRECEDENTED HIDDEN CAMERA INVESTIGATION, "DATELINE NBC" EXPOSES THE GLOBAL BLACK MARKET IN PASSPORTS

Stone Phillips and NBC News Producers Uncover How Easy it is to Obtain Genuine Passports Under False Identities and to Use Them for International Travel

The Hour Long Report to Air on Friday, Dec. 28 at 9PM

(New York) � Dec. 19, 2007 � A two-year undercover investigation by NBC News documents for the first time a thriving illicit trade in fraudulent identification papers and passports. In the report, airing on Friday, Dec. 28 (9:00 p.m., et.), Stone Phillips and NBC News producers travel throughout the Western Hemisphere and reveal that, six years after 9/11, documents prized by terrorists can be bought from organized criminal networks with access to corrupt government employees.

Using hidden-cameras in South America, "Dateline's" undercover team finds stolen passports for sale by the bagful and customized genuine passports for only a few thousand dollars. NBC News witnesses the creation of entirely new identities that are then used to travel internationally with virtually no scrutiny.

The hour-long broadcast reports on the process of obtaining a fraudulent passport, exposing what Interpol chief Ron Noble calls "the Number One" global security problem with regard to terrorism. In an interview, Noble tells Phillips that in nearly every major terrorist attack "you can find fraudulent travel documents tied or linked in some way."

While the United States and its allies have by all accounts done a lot to enhance security, the broadcast raises questions about how easily a terrorist could still enter the country undetected.

In Lima, Peru, a document broker named Jorge promises on hidden camera that with the help of corrupt insiders, he can provide a genuine Spanish passport � that would not require a visa to travel to the U.S. � or a Peruvian passport with a U.S. visa.

"I'm a hundred percent certain you will travel," he says, "I guarantee it."

David Corvo is the executive producer of "Enemies at the Gate." Elizabeth Cole is the executive editor. Allan Maraynes is the senior investigative producer. Richard Greenberg and Adam Ciralsky are the producers. Maite Amorebieta is field producer. Robert O. Allen and Sam Casalino are the editors.