Thirteen foreign nationals were deported from the State last night on board a special charter flight manned by about 30 gardaí. The deportees, who are from China, flew from Dublin airport at about 10.30pm.
They were due to stop for refuelling in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, before continuing on to their final destination of Beijing. The deportees, 11 men and two women, were served with deportation orders for a number of reasons.
Some had come to Ireland on student visas but were found not to have attended any courses. A smaller number were deported after completing prison sentences in the Republic for serious crimes.
One man was involved in a serious street fight on O'Connell Street, Dublin, in July 2002 between members of the Chinese community during which a Chinese national was killed. Another man deported last night had been jailed for his role in a false imprisonment and extortion case.
