INS Charges Egyptian Who Had Box Cutters for Illegal Return to U.S.
A deported Egyptian who arrived on a flight from Spain with box cutters in his briefcase was charged Tuesday with attempting to enter the United States illegally, federal prosecutors said.
Aly Sabra Galal Abdelella, 29, was arrested Friday after arriving at Miami International Airport on Iberia Airlines Flight 6123.
He was stopped by inspectors after they found he had been deported from New York in January by an immigration judge after arriving in the country last summer, officials said.
An Immigration and Naturalization Service search of the man’s briefcase turned up the box cutters, officials said.
U.S. officials have banned passengers from carrying small blades, including box cutters, because authorities believe they were used by the Sept. 11 hijackers.
It is a federal crime for an alien previously deported or removed from the United States to attempt to re-enter the country without permission.
Abdelella faces a maximum of two years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a written statement.
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