http://www.wacotrib.com/auto/feed/news/2002/07/16/1026878256.01415.3448.4731.html
update from the Waco Tribune-Herald
Four Pakistanis arrested in Waco for entering country illegally
By MIKE ANDERSON Tribune-Herald staff writer
As local and federal agents beat the bushes for two days looking for four Pakistani nationals who jumped ship in Louisiana and entered the country illegally, the men were apparently holed up in a Waco motel room.
FBI agents and Waco police arrested the fourabout 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in two rooms at the Sandman Motel at 3820 Franklin Ave.
Investigators are trying to determine what drew the men to Central Texas.
The four, identified as Ali Shan, 22, Amad Khan, 26, M. Ilyas Khan, 33, and Waheed Khan, 24, walked off the Maltese-flagged freighter the "Little Lady P" Sunday morning and took a cab to Waco, where they were met by a man police described as their uncle, said Rick Copeland, a senior agent with the FBI in Austin.
Officers also arrested a 46-year-old Waco man at another location Tuesday on charges of lying to federal agents looking for the Pakistanis. Copeland said the man was likely the uncle the four had met on arrival in Waco. He remained at the McLennan County Jail Tuesday awaiting arraignment, Copeland said. It is Tribune-Herald policy not to print the names of those arrested until they have been arraigned.
Linda Reed, a Sandman Motel manager, said the four men checked in Sunday night and little more was heard from them until FBI agents came calling Tuesday morning.
"They showed me pictures and I recognized two of them from rooms 8 and 9," she said. "I went out and told people to stay away from that side of the building while they were arresting them.
"We thought they were from Mexico. They didn't speak very much English. They were quiet. When the housekeeper went to their rooms they would not let her in."
The men were taken to the McLennan County Jail while Waco investigators searched their rooms. Police would not comment on what, if anything, the search turned up. Copeland said officers found the men by using "good detective work," but he would not comment further, other that to say the discovery was not based on a tip to police.
While it is not clear why the men came to Waco, the fact that President Bush has a ranch in nearby Crawford did concern some officials. Although Bush was not at the ranch at the time, he is expected to visit in August.
McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch, whose deputies also took part in the investigation, said he kept in contact with the U.S. Secret Service throughout the search.
Mark Lowery, assistant agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service's Dallas District, said the fact that the men were from Pakistan raised concern in his agency.
"We don't have enough information right now to determine what they were doing there," he said. "But we take every potential threat very seriously. We have to."
Copeland agreed.
"You can't neglect any possible threat," he said. "Safety at the ranch is always a concern that's present for us. The ranch is that elephant in your living room that you just can't ignore."
Officials pointed out the four have only been charged with entering the country illegally.
The four remained in the McLennan County Jail late Tuesday, awaiting transfer to San Antonio by officers with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, said Carl Rusnok, a spokesman with the INS Dallas regional office. Once they reach San Antonio, they will be questioned by FBI investigators, he said. After that they will be given a notice to appear before a federal judge.
"What happens after that depends on what the investigation turns up," Rusnok said. "They could be deported. They could request asylum. In the meanwhile, since they were ship jumpers it's likely they will remain in custody while their case is decided."
They fall into the male 18-40 age bracket that poses an identifiable threat.