U.S. agents board plane at RDU, arrest 11
Federal agents met a Southwest Airlines flight at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport and arrested 11 male passengers suspected of illegally entering the United States, authorities said Wednesday.
The 11 men boarded their flight Tuesday by showing federal agents one form of identification -- a Mexican voter registration card that contained a name, age and photo, said Thomas O'Connell, resident agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Raleigh.
Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said the incident was the first time that she knew of that immigration agents boarded a Southwest flight to check passenger identification.
The events leading to the men's arrest began when an air marshal observed a group of men on a flight from Las Vegas to Chicago, O'Connell said. The marshal overheard the men discussing how they were smuggled into the United States.
McInnis would not give the flight number, saying she could not release passenger information.
When the flight landed in Chicago, the air marshal departed from the plane and called a customs agent in Atlanta who then notified O'Connell's office.
The men boarded a second flight, 2340, in Chicago and arrived in Raleigh at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to officials.
The flight's 136 passengers were held on the plane for about 15 minutes while immigration, customs and border agents, along with the RDU police arrived on the scene.
Federal agents boarded the flight and began checking the identification of passengers. Officers detained 11 men who were then interviewed and taken to the Johnston County jail.
After spending another day in the Johnston County jail, the men will go to Charlotte and later to Atlanta for a deportation hearing, O'Connell said.
The men had each paid a smuggler $1,000 to cross the border near Douglas, Ariz., on or about March 22, O'Connell said. After crossing the border, a vehicle took the men to Las Vegas, where they stayed at a "stash house" for several days before boarding a Southwest flight headed for Raleigh.
It was not clear Wednesday how the airline tickets were purchased or how the group got past federal security agents without a passport and using a foreign voter registration card, O'Connell said.
Federal agents met a Southwest Airlines flight at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport and arrested 11 male passengers suspected of illegally entering the United States, authorities said Wednesday.
The 11 men boarded their flight Tuesday by showing federal agents one form of identification -- a Mexican voter registration card that contained a name, age and photo, said Thomas O'Connell, resident agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Raleigh.
Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said the incident was the first time that she knew of that immigration agents boarded a Southwest flight to check passenger identification.
The events leading to the men's arrest began when an air marshal observed a group of men on a flight from Las Vegas to Chicago, O'Connell said. The marshal overheard the men discussing how they were smuggled into the United States.
McInnis would not give the flight number, saying she could not release passenger information.
When the flight landed in Chicago, the air marshal departed from the plane and called a customs agent in Atlanta who then notified O'Connell's office.
The men boarded a second flight, 2340, in Chicago and arrived in Raleigh at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to officials.
The flight's 136 passengers were held on the plane for about 15 minutes while immigration, customs and border agents, along with the RDU police arrived on the scene.
Federal agents boarded the flight and began checking the identification of passengers. Officers detained 11 men who were then interviewed and taken to the Johnston County jail.
After spending another day in the Johnston County jail, the men will go to Charlotte and later to Atlanta for a deportation hearing, O'Connell said.
The men had each paid a smuggler $1,000 to cross the border near Douglas, Ariz., on or about March 22, O'Connell said. After crossing the border, a vehicle took the men to Las Vegas, where they stayed at a "stash house" for several days before boarding a Southwest flight headed for Raleigh.
It was not clear Wednesday how the airline tickets were purchased or how the group got past federal security agents without a passport and using a foreign voter registration card, O'Connell said.
