C.B.P. News Release

Philadelphia CBP Hunch Nabs Fugitive Wanted for Heroin and Weapons Offenses

(Wednesday, May 06, 2009)

Philadelphia - Anyone who’s ever watched police dramas knows that many cases are broken by dogged determination and officer intuition. That point was driven home this week when Philadelphia Customs and Border Protection officers nabbed two wanted fugitives, one purely on a hunch, who have been on the lam for over 10 years each.

Franklin de Jesus Zorrillo Pena, 38, of Camden, N.J., was returning on a flight Sunday from the Dominican Republic to Philadelphia International Airport when CBP officers observed that his name was similar and birth date exact to that on a 1999 U.S. Marshals arrest warrant for heroin distribution and weapons possession.

Airlines traveling to the U.S. are required to submit passenger manifests to CBP prior to their wheels departing foreign soil. CBP officers conduct targeting on these passenger manifests searching for wanted fugitives, terrorists or their associates, and travelers with a history of criminal or immigration violations.

When Zorrillo Pena arrived, he denied being the subject of the arrest warrant and fingerprints failed to identify Zorrillo in any law enforcement system. Playing a hunch, CBP officers contacted the U.S. Marshals, confirmed the warrant was active, and requested photos of the wanted fugitive.

A Marshal returned to his office in Newark, N.J., on an off day Sunday to transmit the photos to CBP. The photo and signature on the photo card were an exact match and Zorrillo Pena was arrested and turned over to the U.S. Marshals.

On Monday, CBP officers arrested Pasquale Sorrentino, 44, of Italy, after he arrived on a flight from Rome on an outstanding 1997 arrest warrant for criminal solicitation and promoting prostitution. Sorrentino was targeted for secondary immigration inspection due to a 1992 removal order for overstaying his 1990 visit, and a second overstay in 1997. While investigating Sorrentino’s history, CBP officers discovered the 1997 arrest warrant. Sorrentino was turned over to the Philadelphia Police Department.

“Technology is essential in helping us to identify wanted fugitives; however selecting that proverbial needle in the haystack of international travelers arriving to the U.S. everyday relies extensively on officer intuition and initiative, and it was our officers’ hunch that returned these two dangerous fugitives back behind bars,â€