Glenn SpencerABP Delivers 'WMD' to Tucson Federal BuildingThu Jul 29, 2004 14:4164.140.158.30 ABP Delivers 'WMD' to Tucson Federal BuildingGroup Shows How Arizona Can be "Ground Zero" for Terroristshttp://www.americanpatrol.com/ Federal Officer Does Not Question Backpack ContentsTucson - July 28 - American Border Patrol delivered a "smuggled" simulated Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) to the front entrance of the Tucson Federal Building after skirting around a Border Patrol Check point near Sierra Vista. As the team approached the building, a federal officer emerged and asked them not to video tape the area. He asked for their IDs, but did not inquire as to what was in the backpack. Watch... http://www.americanpatrol.com/ Terrorist Came Across BorderJuly 28, 2004 -- Lou Dobbs reports that a South African woman linked to terrorist organizations entered the U.S. by crossing the Mexican border illegally.Watch Dial-up http://www.americanpatrol.com/ -------------------------July 29, 2004, 12:16AMBorder arrest raises security questionsLawmaker says he's concerned by amount of effort it took to ID womanBy JAMES PINKERTONCopyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Rio Grande Valley Bureau http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2707451 HARLINGEN - When two Border Patrol agents working the McAllen airport spotted a South African woman waiting to board an American Airlines flight to New York, they thought something about her was not right.And when the agents approached Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, a 48-year-old resident of Johannesburg, their suspicions were confirmed, according to a federal affidavit.Ahmed was arrested last week after she showed agents a South African passport without entry or exit visas, and with four pages missing.A search of her two bags turned up a wet and muddy pair of blue jeans, dirty shoes pierced with thorns, and $6,000 in cash.Eddie Flores, public information officer for the Border Patrol's McAllen Sector, said Wednesday that Ahmed's arrest was the work ''of an astute agent" who decided to question the woman as she waited to board a flight on July 19.But the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, said he is concerned about how much effort it took to identify her.Ortiz said federal government officials told him that the first time the Border Patrol agents fed Ahmed's name into their agency's computer database, they got no matches.But the agent tried again, this time accessing databases of other government agencies, and found Ahmed was on a watch list of those suspected of having terrorist connections.''The Border Patrol went through their sources, all their information sources without getting anything, and they started checking others and she popped up on one of the agencies lists," Ortiz said.''My concern is, now that I've been pressing them, is that they don't have the resources they need."Ortiz also is worried that terrorists could slip into the country, even if they are detained after crossing the border illegally.Because immigration facilities along the border are often full, and many non-Mexican immigrants are released on their own recognizance and ordered to appear before an immigration judge at a later time, immigration officials acknowledge.''My concern is this (Ahmed) is one of the ones who have been caught, but how many have gone through?" Ortiz said.Ortiz said federal officials, who he would not identify, have told him that migrants from Middle Eastern countries have been released by the Border Patrol because of a lack of space at detention facilities.''My question was, 'Have some of these people (those released) been coming from Middle Eastern countries?' And the answer was 'Yes.' Who are they, we don't know. Have they checked them out? I don't believe so," Ortiz said.Flores said that since last October, a total of 19,460 undocumented migrants from countries other than Mexico have been apprehended.He acknowledged that some of them have been released, but he could not provide specific numbers.''It would be great if everyone we apprehended were detained until they were returned to their country, or until an immigration judge made a decision to allow them to remain in the United States," Flores said. ''But I don't know if that will ever be possible."The Border Patrol stations agents at the three airports in the Rio Grande Valley, and they rove the boarding gates, questioning anyone they think is suspicious.In one of Ahmed's bags, agents found an itinerary showing she flew on July 8 from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates, on to Gatwick airport in London.From the United Kingdom, Ahmed took a British Airways flight on July 14 to Mexico City.Ahmed, who is being held without bond, faces charges of illegal entry, making false statements and using an altered passport.But the federal complaint, and a lengthy affidavit supporting the charges, does not accuse Ahmed of terror acts or terrorist ties.''All we know is she did admit to entering the United States illegally," Flores said. james.pinkerton@chron.com Keep the Intelligence in “Intelligence Reform” — James Jay Carafano, Thu Jul 29 14:54
Glenn SpencerABP Delivers 'WMD' to Tucson Federal BuildingThu Jul 29, 2004 14:4164.140.158.30 ABP Delivers 'WMD' to Tucson Federal BuildingGroup Shows How Arizona Can be "Ground Zero" for Terroristshttp://www.americanpatrol.com/ Federal Officer Does Not Question Backpack ContentsTucson - July 28 - American Border Patrol delivered a "smuggled" simulated Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) to the front entrance of the Tucson Federal Building after skirting around a Border Patrol Check point near Sierra Vista. As the team approached the building, a federal officer emerged and asked them not to video tape the area. He asked for their IDs, but did not inquire as to what was in the backpack. Watch... http://www.americanpatrol.com/ Terrorist Came Across BorderJuly 28, 2004 -- Lou Dobbs reports that a South African woman linked to terrorist organizations entered the U.S. by crossing the Mexican border illegally.Watch Dial-up http://www.americanpatrol.com/ -------------------------July 29, 2004, 12:16AMBorder arrest raises security questionsLawmaker says he's concerned by amount of effort it took to ID womanBy JAMES PINKERTONCopyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Rio Grande Valley Bureau http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2707451 HARLINGEN - When two Border Patrol agents working the McAllen airport spotted a South African woman waiting to board an American Airlines flight to New York, they thought something about her was not right.And when the agents approached Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, a 48-year-old resident of Johannesburg, their suspicions were confirmed, according to a federal affidavit.Ahmed was arrested last week after she showed agents a South African passport without entry or exit visas, and with four pages missing.A search of her two bags turned up a wet and muddy pair of blue jeans, dirty shoes pierced with thorns, and $6,000 in cash.Eddie Flores, public information officer for the Border Patrol's McAllen Sector, said Wednesday that Ahmed's arrest was the work ''of an astute agent" who decided to question the woman as she waited to board a flight on July 19.But the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, said he is concerned about how much effort it took to identify her.Ortiz said federal government officials told him that the first time the Border Patrol agents fed Ahmed's name into their agency's computer database, they got no matches.But the agent tried again, this time accessing databases of other government agencies, and found Ahmed was on a watch list of those suspected of having terrorist connections.''The Border Patrol went through their sources, all their information sources without getting anything, and they started checking others and she popped up on one of the agencies lists," Ortiz said.''My concern is, now that I've been pressing them, is that they don't have the resources they need."Ortiz also is worried that terrorists could slip into the country, even if they are detained after crossing the border illegally.Because immigration facilities along the border are often full, and many non-Mexican immigrants are released on their own recognizance and ordered to appear before an immigration judge at a later time, immigration officials acknowledge.''My concern is this (Ahmed) is one of the ones who have been caught, but how many have gone through?" Ortiz said.Ortiz said federal officials, who he would not identify, have told him that migrants from Middle Eastern countries have been released by the Border Patrol because of a lack of space at detention facilities.''My question was, 'Have some of these people (those released) been coming from Middle Eastern countries?' And the answer was 'Yes.' Who are they, we don't know. Have they checked them out? I don't believe so," Ortiz said.Flores said that since last October, a total of 19,460 undocumented migrants from countries other than Mexico have been apprehended.He acknowledged that some of them have been released, but he could not provide specific numbers.''It would be great if everyone we apprehended were detained until they were returned to their country, or until an immigration judge made a decision to allow them to remain in the United States," Flores said. ''But I don't know if that will ever be possible."The Border Patrol stations agents at the three airports in the Rio Grande Valley, and they rove the boarding gates, questioning anyone they think is suspicious.In one of Ahmed's bags, agents found an itinerary showing she flew on July 8 from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates, on to Gatwick airport in London.From the United Kingdom, Ahmed took a British Airways flight on July 14 to Mexico City.Ahmed, who is being held without bond, faces charges of illegal entry, making false statements and using an altered passport.But the federal complaint, and a lengthy affidavit supporting the charges, does not accuse Ahmed of terror acts or terrorist ties.''All we know is she did admit to entering the United States illegally," Flores said. james.pinkerton@chron.com
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