Twenty-one of the 95 people arrested at Dulles and National Airports on April 23 are being held at the Alexandria Detention Center.
The arrests came after a five-month investigation that included 11 state and federal agencies and was led by the U. S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. Investigators reviewed as many as 20,000 applications for security clearances at the two airports.
According to officials, 138 individuals were indicted on charges that ranged from using false Social Security numbers to immigration violations. Thirty of those arrested were accused of lying about criminal histories, four faced outstanding warrants in state crimes and 12 were illegally in the United States.
"What this investigation uncovered should be a wake-up call to every airport in America," said U. S. Attorney General John Ashcroft at a press conference at the Federal Courthouse in Alexandria, Tuesday. "Americans deserve the confidence of knowing that the individuals working at our airports are worthy of their trust."
WHILE THOSE WORKERS who are responsible for conducting security screening on airline passengers and baggage are being "federalized," there is no time table for implementing more stringent regulations about how employees of private companies that operate restaurants and clean restrooms will be screened. The 138 airport employees who were arrested at Dulles and National were employed by private companies and had varying degrees of access to high-security areas.