2 Pakistanis arrested at Sea-Tac; one man's name on terror list

The Seattle Times ^ | Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - Page updated at 12:04 A.M. | By Mike Carter and Cheryl Phillips

[freeperfromnj]

Two Pakistani men are being held in Seattle after an airline employee at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport found one of their names on a terrorism-related no-fly list Saturday night.

One of the men, 36, carrying a British Columbia driver's license, paid cash for a one-way ticket to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. After the airline employee called 911, the man left the counter, abandoning his ticket.

The other man, 29, who had a New York driver's license, also paid cash for a one-way ticket to Kennedy Airport on a different airline, police reports show.

Port police detained both men, then turned them over to the FBI. They are being held on immigration violations as part of a growing international investigation being conducted by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE).

"We are aware of the situation," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg, a counter-terrorism prosecutor in Seattle. "We are expending all available resources toward the investigation."

The two men both were using Pakistani passports and reportedly were seen together at the airport earlier in the evening, law-enforcement sources said. After their arrests, the men told investigators they paid to be smuggled into Blaine from Canada last month, two sources said.

Both men are being held for investigation of administrative immigration violations. No criminal charges have been filed.

"There are questions about whether they are in the country legally," said BICE spokesman Michael Milne. "We want to know how they entered the country and what they're doing here."

The men, whose names have not been released, were arrested about 10 p.m. Saturday on the ticketing level after an American Airlines employee and a ticket agent from another major airline became suspicious and ran the men's names through the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) no-fly database of suspected terrorists.

[RoughDobermann]

paid cash for a one-way ticket to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport

Stupid terrorists are my personal favorite...

[rintense]

Another good guys win story! With all the recent stories about airlines, arrests, etc., I'm beginning to think Al Qaeda had another 9-11 planned- probably to be executed around the same time period.

[HairOfTheDog]

Two Pakistani men are being held in Seattle after an airline employee at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport found one of their names on a terrorism-related no-fly list Saturday night.

Kudos to this worker!

[freeperfromnj]

Lots of activity going on the last couple of days.

[syriacus]

Saturday on the ticketing level after an American Airlines employee and a ticket agent from another major airline became suspicious and ran the men's names through the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) no-fly database of suspected terrorists.

These employees deserve a big bonus or a reward.

Nice job!!!

If the airlines could automate such searches through the no-fly database, maybe even more bad buys could be apprehended.

[mhking]

The clock is ticking. We've GOT to be more vigilant.

[Pharmboy]

Getting close to 9-11 anniversary.

[TBall]

Yeah, I would hope that everyone is being checked against that database.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Ping!

[Petronski]

Lots of activity going on the last couple of days.

The birth pains are coming faster, I daresay.

[syriacus]

From AP via KIROtv.com

http://www.kirotv.com/news/2402518/detail.html [excerpted]

The newspaper said the men told investigators they paid to be smuggled across the border into Washington state from Canada last month.

[snip]Since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings, airlines have routinely been running security checks on passengers who purchase one-way tickets or use cash to buy them.

Hundreds of individuals have been briefly detained at airports after their names matched those on the TSA no-fly list, according to TSA records released as part of a lawsuit against the agency by the American Civil Liberties Union.

[Quilla]

Bump for racial profiling.

[Ex-Dem]

The terrorists are going to wise up real fast to that and start buying round trip tickets. We need to check all of these guys.

[amom]

heads up. A little something to go along with our most recent events in Newark I wonder.

[BluH2o]

Buy a one way ticket on any major airline, especially as a walk up, and you will be scrutinized. Guaranteed.

[Brian S]

paid cash for a one-way ticket... This makes me wonder. I have seen ads lately for "prepaid" Visa Cards that can be purchased then used like a credit card. I wonder if that produces a warning "flag" when attempting to use this to purchase a travel ticket or rental car since they are not linked to any person/address?

[GOP_1900AD]

I am very concerned about 27 September 2003. That is the day during which massive Communist led protests are scheduled to occur worldwide and particularly in Western nations. What a horrible situation it would be if we had Commie riots and a terrorist attack both going on at the same time.

[maestro]

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