Illegal Aliens Captured with HazMat Licenses
Jim Kouri, CPP
June 25, 2005
The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 27 illegal aliens in Illinois, Maryland and Missouri in recent days who possessed valid state licenses to transport hazardous materials, state commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks or state driver’s licenses.
The arrests announced on June 23 follow previous ICE enforcement actions in Florida, Michigan, and Maryland in which more than 100 individuals have been arrested in connection with fraud schemes that enabled illegal aliens to obtain valid hazardous materials licenses, commercial driver’s licenses and/or driver’s licenses through respective state Departments of Motor Vehicles.
In Illinois, ICE agents arrested six illegal aliens during the past two weeks who had been issued valid Illinois state commercial driver’s licenses with hazardous materials endorsements. The arrests were the result of a joint investigation conducted by ICE, the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Illinois Secretary of State Police.
ICE has placed all six individuals in removal proceedings. A seventh man was also arrested during the investigation and is being criminally charged by the State of Illinois for falsely applying for and obtaining a driver’s license. This individual will also face deportation upon resolution of the state charges. The seven illegal aliens arrested are from Belize, Jordan (2), Mexico, Mongolia, and the Philippines (2).
In Maryland, a federal grand jury in Baltimore returned a criminal indictment on June 21 against Mansoor Hassan, an illegal alien from Pakistan and a driver of gasoline tanker trucks for Exxon, on six counts of making false statements about his citizenship in order to gain employment with different gas companies.
In 1996, an Immigration Judge had ordered Hassan to depart the country, but allowed him to do so voluntarily. Hassan never left the country and soon obtained a commercial driver’s license from the state of Maryland to drive gas tanker trucks. ICE agents recently learned that Hassan was working as a gas tanker truck driver for Exxon in Baltimore and arrested him on May 18, 2005. Upon his arrest, Hassan’s commercial driver’s license was revoked. He is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on July 1, 2005.
In Missouri, ICE agents and other law enforcement officers arrested 19 illegal aliens who had fraudulently applied for Missouri driver's licenses using legitimate birth certificates from U.S. citizens. Twelve men and seven women were arrested in the two-day operation that ended on June 21. Those arrested, who are ineligible to obtain drivers licenses, are citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
The Missouri Department of Revenue requested ICE assistance with this operation since the individuals requesting these driver's licenses were believed to be illegal aliens and not U.S. citizens. Law enforcement officials believe that these aliens illegally resided in other states and traveled to Missouri carrying legitimate birth certificates from people who live in Puerto Rico, California and Texas. The aliens would then fraudulently present the U.S. birth certificates as their own and apply for Missouri driver's licenses. These aliens currently resided in and traveled from Kansas, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska.
These arrests come on the heels of previous ICE enforcement actions in Florida, Michigan, and Maryland that uncovered fraud schemes enabling illegal aliens to obtain valid hazardous materials licenses, commercial driver’s licenses and/or driver’s licenses.
To date, ICE agents in Florida have arrested more than 100 individuals, including 3 Florida Department of Motor Vehicles examiners, 5 middlemen, and a large number of illegal aliens, in a massive driver's license fraud scheme that was first announced in April 2005. The three Florida DMV employees were accused of providing valid driver's licenses, commercial licenses and HAZMAT licenses, to more than 2,000 illegal aliens for a fee.
Thus far, ICE agents have identified 21 illegal aliens who obtained Florida commercial driver’s licenses and 13 illegal aliens who obtained Florida hazardous material licenses. The illegal aliens are believed to have spent between $1,500 and $3,000 to purchase commercial driver's licenses. Some of the driver's licenses went for between $100 and $200. A number of those who illegally purchased the commercial driver's licenses and HAZMAT licenses had criminal histories, including Driving While Intoxicated, reckless driving, resisting arrest, burglary, battery, weapons charges, and drug charges. None of them had the requisite training for operating commercial trucks or HAZMAT vehicles. According to preliminary info from the Florida Highway Patrol, there have been at least 11 auto accidents associated with those individuals who illegally obtained the commercial driver's licenses.
On April 20, 2005, ICE agents in Michigan, assisted by U.S. Postal Inspectors, arrested four individuals, Ali Hail, Daher Al-Mayahi, Barbara Wilke, and Mohamad Barry, and seized more than $20,000 and a variety of document-production equipment, as part of an ongoing investigation into the production and trafficking of fraudulent State of Michigan driver's licenses, U.S. Visas, foreign passports and Social Security cards. Hundreds of illegal aliens received driver's licenses through the scheme. According to court documents, the investigation began after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized a number of blank Guinea driver's licenses en route to Ali Hawil. An undercover ICE agent, posing as an Iraqi arms dealer with an Afghan passport, made contact with Hawil, who then arranged a meeting with Al-Mayahi. Al Mayahi demanded several hundred dollars for the driver's license - something Al Mayahi said he had done "a thousand times” according to court documents.
On April 22, 2005, ICE agents arrested three Marylanders for a scheme to fraudulently obtain Maryland state identification cards. Arrested was Hyattsville resident Dodson Robey, 34, and Silver Spring residents Margentina Esther Pinilla, 41, and Valentin Roosevelt Milstein, 59. According to a criminal complaint, the three allegedly conspired to knowingly transfer fraudulent identification documents to more than 100 illegal aliens. At the time of their arrests, Robey worked a the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) located at 11760 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, Md., and Milstein operated Val's Driving School, a business located in Wheaton, Md. Pinilla, a former employee of the MVA, allegedly recruited individuals who paid her a fee for Robey to produce the fraudulent cards for them. The complaint alleges that from Aug. 31, 2004 to Feb. 16, 2005, in return for the payment of more than $1,000 per applicant, the defendants agreed to provide fraudulent MVA documents to various applicants --many of them illegal aliens-- who sought MVA identification cards or driver's licenses without showing the documentation required under Maryland law. Robey is alleged to have provided more than 100 identification documents in violation of MVA policy.
Sources: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Department of Homeland Security, American Federation of Police abd Concerned Citizens
The arrests announced on June 23 follow previous ICE enforcement actions in Florida, Michigan, and Maryland in which more than 100 individuals have been arrested in connection with fraud schemes that enabled illegal aliens to obtain valid hazardous materials licenses, commercial driver’s licenses and/or driver’s licenses through respective state Departments of Motor Vehicles.
In Illinois, ICE agents arrested six illegal aliens during the past two weeks who had been issued valid Illinois state commercial driver’s licenses with hazardous materials endorsements. The arrests were the result of a joint investigation conducted by ICE, the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Illinois Secretary of State Police.
ICE has placed all six individuals in removal proceedings. A seventh man was also arrested during the investigation and is being criminally charged by the State of Illinois for falsely applying for and obtaining a driver’s license. This individual will also face deportation upon resolution of the state charges. The seven illegal aliens arrested are from Belize, Jordan (2), Mexico, Mongolia, and the Philippines (2).
In Maryland, a federal grand jury in Baltimore returned a criminal indictment on June 21 against Mansoor Hassan, an illegal alien from Pakistan and a driver of gasoline tanker trucks for Exxon, on six counts of making false statements about his citizenship in order to gain employment with different gas companies.
In 1996, an Immigration Judge had ordered Hassan to depart the country, but allowed him to do so voluntarily. Hassan never left the country and soon obtained a commercial driver’s license from the state of Maryland to drive gas tanker trucks. ICE agents recently learned that Hassan was working as a gas tanker truck driver for Exxon in Baltimore and arrested him on May 18, 2005. Upon his arrest, Hassan’s commercial driver’s license was revoked. He is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on July 1, 2005.
In Missouri, ICE agents and other law enforcement officers arrested 19 illegal aliens who had fraudulently applied for Missouri driver's licenses using legitimate birth certificates from U.S. citizens. Twelve men and seven women were arrested in the two-day operation that ended on June 21. Those arrested, who are ineligible to obtain drivers licenses, are citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
The Missouri Department of Revenue requested ICE assistance with this operation since the individuals requesting these driver's licenses were believed to be illegal aliens and not U.S. citizens. Law enforcement officials believe that these aliens illegally resided in other states and traveled to Missouri carrying legitimate birth certificates from people who live in Puerto Rico, California and Texas. The aliens would then fraudulently present the U.S. birth certificates as their own and apply for Missouri driver's licenses. These aliens currently resided in and traveled from Kansas, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska.
These arrests come on the heels of previous ICE enforcement actions in Florida, Michigan, and Maryland that uncovered fraud schemes enabling illegal aliens to obtain valid hazardous materials licenses, commercial driver’s licenses and/or driver’s licenses.
To date, ICE agents in Florida have arrested more than 100 individuals, including 3 Florida Department of Motor Vehicles examiners, 5 middlemen, and a large number of illegal aliens, in a massive driver's license fraud scheme that was first announced in April 2005. The three Florida DMV employees were accused of providing valid driver's licenses, commercial licenses and HAZMAT licenses, to more than 2,000 illegal aliens for a fee.
Thus far, ICE agents have identified 21 illegal aliens who obtained Florida commercial driver’s licenses and 13 illegal aliens who obtained Florida hazardous material licenses. The illegal aliens are believed to have spent between $1,500 and $3,000 to purchase commercial driver's licenses. Some of the driver's licenses went for between $100 and $200. A number of those who illegally purchased the commercial driver's licenses and HAZMAT licenses had criminal histories, including Driving While Intoxicated, reckless driving, resisting arrest, burglary, battery, weapons charges, and drug charges. None of them had the requisite training for operating commercial trucks or HAZMAT vehicles. According to preliminary info from the Florida Highway Patrol, there have been at least 11 auto accidents associated with those individuals who illegally obtained the commercial driver's licenses.
On April 20, 2005, ICE agents in Michigan, assisted by U.S. Postal Inspectors, arrested four individuals, Ali Hail, Daher Al-Mayahi, Barbara Wilke, and Mohamad Barry, and seized more than $20,000 and a variety of document-production equipment, as part of an ongoing investigation into the production and trafficking of fraudulent State of Michigan driver's licenses, U.S. Visas, foreign passports and Social Security cards. Hundreds of illegal aliens received driver's licenses through the scheme. According to court documents, the investigation began after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized a number of blank Guinea driver's licenses en route to Ali Hawil. An undercover ICE agent, posing as an Iraqi arms dealer with an Afghan passport, made contact with Hawil, who then arranged a meeting with Al-Mayahi. Al Mayahi demanded several hundred dollars for the driver's license - something Al Mayahi said he had done "a thousand times” according to court documents.
On April 22, 2005, ICE agents arrested three Marylanders for a scheme to fraudulently obtain Maryland state identification cards. Arrested was Hyattsville resident Dodson Robey, 34, and Silver Spring residents Margentina Esther Pinilla, 41, and Valentin Roosevelt Milstein, 59. According to a criminal complaint, the three allegedly conspired to knowingly transfer fraudulent identification documents to more than 100 illegal aliens. At the time of their arrests, Robey worked a the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) located at 11760 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, Md., and Milstein operated Val's Driving School, a business located in Wheaton, Md. Pinilla, a former employee of the MVA, allegedly recruited individuals who paid her a fee for Robey to produce the fraudulent cards for them. The complaint alleges that from Aug. 31, 2004 to Feb. 16, 2005, in return for the payment of more than $1,000 per applicant, the defendants agreed to provide fraudulent MVA documents to various applicants --many of them illegal aliens-- who sought MVA identification cards or driver's licenses without showing the documentation required under Maryland law. Robey is alleged to have provided more than 100 identification documents in violation of MVA policy.
Sources: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Department of Homeland Security, American Federation of Police abd Concerned Citizens
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