Red Team?

Suspicious truck stopped at the Port of Miami-Dade:

Federal and county authorities have arrested as many as three Middle Eastern men at the Port of Miami-Dade after they tried to enter the facility without proper paperwork, officials said.

An FBI spokeswoman in Miami said an Iraqi semi-truck driver trying to get into the port was been arrested after the cargo in his truck did not match what was declared on the truck's manifest.

A second Iraqi nationakl and third Lebanese national were found hiding inside the truck, the official said.

''Right now, we're trying to figure out what these men were trying to do,'' said Judy Orihuela, the FBI spokeswoman.

She said the incident began when the Iraqi driver tried to make a delivery at the port and was told he needed a day pass.
During the questioning, inconsistencies surfaced as to the cargo. It in his story and the Lebanese national was found, she said.

The incident prompted a shut-down of the port as members of several federal, local and state law enforcement agencies converged on the busy facility. Among the agencies responding was the Center for Domestic Preparedness, an agency that deals with suspected weapons of mass destruction.

Orihuela said the men appear to be in the U.S. legally and have resident status. They are not on any watch list.

Authorities in Washington, D.C. have been notified of the incident, Orihuela said.

No Charges Expected in Miami Port Alert:

MIAMI (AP) - Three legal immigrants in a cargo truck were detained at the Port of Miami on Sunday after a routine inspection raised concerns, but police say the incident may have stemmed in part from a language barrier. The port's cargo area was shut down Sunday as the Miami-Dade bomb squad X-rayed the truck and scanned it for radioactive materials. Nothing unusual was found, officials said. The men in the truck - two Iraqis and one Lebanese national - were still detained by local police Sunday evening, but authorities said no federal charges were expected. Officials initially said the men, all permanent U.S. residents, had been caught trying to slip past a checkpoint at the port's entrance. A port security officer became suspicious when the truck driver could not produce proper paperwork in a routine inspection to enter the port about 8 a.m., Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Nancy Goldberg said. The driver also indicated he was alone in the truck, though security officers found two other men in the cab, she said. The two passengers, ages 28 and 29, were a friend and a relative of the 20-year-old Iraqi driver, she said...

Evidently not red team...

3 Men Cleared In Port Scare 'Treated Like Animals':

Three Middle Eastern men who were arrested and later had charges against them dropped over a brief terrorism scare at the Port of Miami on Sunday said they were unfairly targeted because of their ethnicity and creed.

Amar Al-Hadad said he was "humiliated, disrespected (and) treated real badly just because my name is an Arabic name and I'm a Muslim."

The Iraqi-born Al-Hadad cried during the Monday news conference in which he described the way he, his brother, Hussain Al Hadad, and friend, Hassan El Sayed, were treated.

Amar Al-Hadad said his driver's license hadn't been returned and wasn't sure which law enforcement agency had it....

"We demand the return of those IDs as soon as possible so that they can go about their lives in a normal fashion," said Areeb Naseer, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The three men said they were considering filing a lawsuit.

Posted on 09 January 2007 @ 14:09 GMT