More than 100 employees at three Washington airports have been arrested on charges of failing to disclose felony convictions and other false submissions including their immigration status and social security numbers to work in secure areas.
The arrests at National, Dulles International and Baltimore International airports are part of a natinwide sweep to tighten security at airports following the September 11 attacks. One of the hijacked aircraft took off from Dulles.
Announcing the arrests at a press conference yesterday, Attorney General John Ashcroft: "There will be zero tolerance of security breaches at our nation's airports."
Americans deserve the confidence of knowing that the individuals working in their airports are worthy of trust, he said.
Those nabbed included catering workers, contract contruction workers and baggage handlers. Many are accused of lying about criminal convictions that included gun, drug, sex and assault charges, law enforcement sources said.
Ten people had outstanding warrants for their arests.
The arrests followed a lengthy investigation that include the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Centre in West Virginia running criminal background checks on mroe than 20,000 badged employees at airports in the Washington area.
Bureau Report
