Egyptian charged with smuggling illegal immigrants to US
http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/new ... s&id=79677
Egyptian charged with smuggling illegal immigrants to US:
[World News]: Washington, Mar 3 : An Egyptian national has been charged by a US court with using his position as a driver at the Saudi Arabian Embassy here to secure fraudulent diplomatic visas for illegal immigrants to the United States.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced that Mohamed Abdel Wahab Yakoub alias Mohamed Wardi, made his first appearance in a court in Alexandria yesterday before being released pending further legal proceedings.
Special ICE agents first arrested Yakoub at Dulles International Airport upon his arrival on a flight from Cairo on February 14 this year. The agents had been investigating the alleged human-smuggling scheme for more than a year.
Currently, the ICE has no information indicating that any of the illegal aliens who entered the United States via this alleged smuggling scheme had any ties with terrorists.
"This was a unique and troubling smuggling scheme from our perspective," Allan Doody, ICE Special Agent-in-Charge for Washington, DC, said. "Anytime you have an individual exploiting his post at an Embassy to smuggle people into the US, it raises serious homeland security concerns. Thankfully, we have closed down this human pipeline." According to the ICE affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Yakoub wrote letters to the US Embassy in Cairo, on Saudi Embassy letterheads, falsely stating that a Saudi diplomat was requesting an A-3 visa for Egyptians.
On several occasions, the US Embassy in Egypt approved the visa applications, believing that these Egyptians would be working for Saudi diplomats in the US.
Yakoub had been fired by the Saudi Embassy in 2002. PTI
Egyptian charged with smuggling illegal immigrants to US
http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/new ... s&id=79677
Egyptian charged with smuggling illegal immigrants to US:
[World News]: Washington, Mar 3 : An Egyptian national has been charged by a US court with using his position as a driver at the Saudi Arabian Embassy here to secure fraudulent diplomatic visas for illegal immigrants to the United States.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced that Mohamed Abdel Wahab Yakoub alias Mohamed Wardi, made his first appearance in a court in Alexandria yesterday before being released pending further legal proceedings.
Special ICE agents first arrested Yakoub at Dulles International Airport upon his arrival on a flight from Cairo on February 14 this year. The agents had been investigating the alleged human-smuggling scheme for more than a year.
Currently, the ICE has no information indicating that any of the illegal aliens who entered the United States via this alleged smuggling scheme had any ties with terrorists.
"This was a unique and troubling smuggling scheme from our perspective," Allan Doody, ICE Special Agent-in-Charge for Washington, DC, said. "Anytime you have an individual exploiting his post at an Embassy to smuggle people into the US, it raises serious homeland security concerns. Thankfully, we have closed down this human pipeline." According to the ICE affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Yakoub wrote letters to the US Embassy in Cairo, on Saudi Embassy letterheads, falsely stating that a Saudi diplomat was requesting an A-3 visa for Egyptians.
On several occasions, the US Embassy in Egypt approved the visa applications, believing that these Egyptians would be working for Saudi diplomats in the US.
Yakoub had been fired by the Saudi Embassy in 2002. PTI
