Posted on 08/19/2004 9:45:45 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
HOUSTON (AP) - A South African woman whose arrest last month near the Mexico border raised concerns about whether terrorists could easily enter the United States has been indicted on charges of violating U.S. immigration law and lying to a federal officer, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Farida Goolam Mahamed Ahmed was arrested July 19 after being stopped by the U.S. Border Patrol at the McAllen-Miller International Airport in South Texas as she tried to board a plane for New York.
She carried a pair of muddy, wet pants in her baggage, $7,300 in various currencies and a passport with three double-sided pages missing. Border Patrol agents determined Ahmed did not have a valid visa for entry into the United States.
During a court hearing in McAllen, testimony indicated Ahmed traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 8, via Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to London, then to Mexico City on or about July 14.
The countries she traveled through don't require South Africans to have visas. She then crossed into the United States illegally by wading across the Rio Grande.
The three-count indictment, returned under seal Monday by a Houston federal grand jury, accuses Ahmed of illegally entering the United States, using an altered passport and making a false statement to a federal agent.
After Ahmed's arrest, investigators tried to determine whether the woman had ties to terrorist groups. Law enforcement officials have previously said that nothing had been substantiated.
Nancy Herrera, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby, would not comment when asked if Ahmed was still being investigated for possible terrorism ties.
Ahmed, 48, was scheduled to appear for arraignment Friday.
C'mon, Nammie. I'm sure there's an innocent explanation.
< |:)~
She was in a boat, fishing on the river when she fell in. Although not very far from shore, she got muddy trying to scramble up the bank. She also found that some of the pages in her pasport had washed away while in the river. While walking along the river, to find a place on the bank where she could get out, she was astonished to find lots and lots of money of various kinds, with pretty pictures that she decided she would like to make a collection of.
Yeah, thats it.
Illegal. Muslim. Nothing else need be substantiated. [ Actually, muslim alone is enough...]
I didn't see this yesterday.
Am still suspicious!
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