Pubdate: Mon, 04 Feb 2002
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2002 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Henry Pierson Curtis

INSPECTORS LOOK HARD FOR TERROR

America's oldest cop on the beat, the U.S. Customs Service, is taking 
on its newest task in Central Florida with a rookie's vigor.

That means looking for suspected terrorists among millions of 
international travelers before they reach Florida, a state visited by 
most of the Sept. 11 hijackers as they made their plans for the 
attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

No terrorists have been apprehended in the campaign, but increased 
vigilance has turned up more drug smugglers than usual across the 
country and in Orlando.

"Being out at the airport and hitting it hard, we've seen an increase 
in our seizures," said Customs Special Agent Stephen Callan, head of 
investigations for Central Florida ports and international airports.

"We're continuing our presence for anti-terrorism and if, as a result 
of this, it drives the price up and the purity down, it's one of the 
indicators we're having an impact."

Nationwide, seizures jumped 28 percent to nearly 1 million pounds of 
marijuana, cocaine and other drugs from September to December 
compared with the same time period in 2000.

In Orlando, seizures doubled to 23, according to Customs officials.

The impact was so quick that one veteran Central Florida drug agent 
considers the war on terrorism America's first real war on drugs.

"It's like the first time in 30 years where drug dealers are scared 
to be moving drugs across borders, said Bill Lutz, head of the 
Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, a drug and vice task force of 
Orange County police agencies.

"This year, because of Sept. 11, everything has dropped off."

Passengers on international flights and overseas cruises are screened 
by 75 customs inspectors assigned to Orlando, Daytona Beach, 
Melbourne, Port Canaveral and Sanford.

Known as "meeters and greeters," they question and occasionally 
search arriving and departing travelers for everything from Cuban 
cigars to computer chips.

Today's terrorists are the latest in a line of suspects dating back 
to 1789, when the first customs inspector went to work.

"We're continuously getting updates on who's out there. And who's 
coming," Karl A. Brown, Customs' area port director for Central 
Florida, said of trying to spot terrorists in the crowds of travelers 
arriving every day to visit Walt Disney World.

"We're watching them as they come in, and equally now, more so than 
before, we're watching them as they go out. Our posture has been 
elevated."

One of the agency's newest tools requires all inbound international 
flights to file passenger manifests before landing so names can be 
checked against data bases compiled by intelligence agencies and U.S. 
and foreign police.

The mandatory rule adopted after Sept. 11 lets customs inspectors 
know if any of the 9,500 international passengers arriving daily at 
Orlando International Airport warrant immediate attention. The rest 
are screened the old-fashioned way, one at time.

The amount of information the Customs Service can access is enormous, 
and very detailed.

While the agency won't disclose how its screening or inspectors work, 
take American citizen Abdul Yasin as a case in point to illustrate 
how ready officials are to react.

Whistles are sure to sound if his name turns up on an Orlando-bound manifest.

Here's what they have on him:

Born in Bloomington, Ind., in 1960, Yasin is identified by the U.S. 
Treasury for undisclosed reasons as a "Specially Designated Global 
Terrorist."

He uses Social Security No. 156-92-9858 and carries U.S. passport No. 
27082171, issued nine years ago in Jordan. He also carries an Iraqi 
passport, No. M0887925, and uses four known aliases, according to a 
Customs Service watch list.

If he shows up, they'll nab him on the spot.

While most people would agree in theory that it's good to know 
security is heightened, the increased scrutiny can mean longer waits 
at Customs, clashing with the interests of tourists wanting to rush 
off their flights straight into their vacations.

But security always outweighs commerce, Callan said.

"Orlando International, for example, would like their tourists to 
come down, get right through into the rental car, seamlessly, 
conveniently. They want people to say, 'Oh, what a breeze it was to 
go through that,' " said Callan, who supervises 30 agents assigned to 
smuggling cases.

"It's our point that's all well and good -- however, we've still got 
to function."

The same is true of shipping the latest high-technology do-dad overseas.

Repeating his pitch to Central Florida's technology manufacturers and 
bankers, Callan said, "You guys know what the norm is. And, now more 
than ever, we're asking you when something comes in suspicious, give 
us a call and get us involved early."

"It's a matter of national security," he said. "The life you save may 
be your own."
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