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| ICE finds lots of connections in New York City |
| 2007-10-16 |
| Not yet War on Terror, but I suspect connections will shortly be found. In the meantime, as they look more closely for terrorists, they find all sorts of other bad people. Via Drudge. 41 Arrested In Massive Identity-Theft Sting Tens of thousands of fake documents were sold along Roosevelt Avenue for years by two criminal organizations, authorities said Tuesday. Two major identity theft mills were shut down as a result of the raids. Federal Secret Service agents joined the NYPD and State Police in helping take down the operation. Among the alleged ringleaders, a husband and wife team from Los Angeles who provided the raw materials to help make the fake documents. Authorities said the overall investigation continues and they expect to make additional arrests. Police said some gang members in Jackson Heights helped produce and sell the fake cards at $50 each. Police said money raised was used to support other gang activities. Among those charged, Edgar Cardenas of 95th Street in Queens, who headed one of the major rings. Other named high-ranking suspects include Lauro Benitez, Geraldo Lima and Miguel Ramirez Rivera. Investigators said as they pour through seized documents, they would notify the Federal Trade Commission if they find victims whose identities and personal information had been stolen. Officials have also notified the Joint Terrorism Task Force to try to make sure none of the fake documents were being used for terror-related matters. Officials stressed there is no link to terrorism at this time. 10 JFK Airport Workers Charged In Drug Ring A drug ring comprised of airport and airline workers who were smuggling large quantities of narcotics into passengers' luggage bound for John F. Kennedy Airport in New York has been broken up by federal authorities, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Federal agents seized more than 46 kilograms of cocaine, 25 kilograms of heroin, and three kilograms of ecstasy in the bust, and arrested seven Delta Airlines employees, one American Airlines employee, two airport workers, and eight others in connection to the ring. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials, who conducted the operation, say the ring was led by Henry Polanco, who operated from the Washington Heights section of Manhattan and dealt with drug suppliers in the Dominican Republic and distributors in New York City. To smuggle the drugs into the U.S., Dominican airport workers concealed the drugs inside luggage on flights destined to JFK, prosecutors say. When the luggage arrived there, it would be diverted to a "safe" area by two corrupt Delta baggage handlers before undergoing inspection by law enforcement. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 Hey, wait a minute! Why are the NYPD and the New York State Police working with the Feds? I thought that Bloomberg had declared NYC as a sanctuary city, and that the local police would not help enforce federal laws. Or is it only certain federal laws that NYPD won't help to enforce? |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-10-16 19:36 |
| #1 Whoops! Hit Submit too quickly. One more: Man Tied To Tamil Tigers Busted In ATM Ring How did a man with a fake passport and ties to terrorist organizations get a security job at Newark Liberty International Airport? He worked at the airport for a company called Gateway Security, pushing wheelchairs in secure areas. But authorities say Siva-Palasri Velay-u-Thampillai -- a Sri Lankan who was given political asylum -- was busted along with a half-dozen other men for looting ATM machines in Manhattan. Authorities say the suspects are part of a global identity theft ring linked to the Tamil Tigers terrorist group. Port Authority officials say the suspect passed an FBI background check. The Authority also said the feds do random checks of all employees. The company the Port Authority uses for criminal background checks -- the American Association of Airport Executives -- sends fingerprints to an FBI database. Velay-u-Thampillai passed every check. Sen. Chuck Schumer says the system of checking employees at airports is flawed. "They are letting all of these security companies do these very, very cursory background checks, and they're not thorough and they don't do the job," Schumer said. Schumer blames the Department of Homeland Security. "What a bad department they are and how they're falling down on the job." Perhaps I'm being silly, but it seems to me we couldn't possibly have every member of every terrorist group in our data base yet. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-16 19:01 |