20 Charged in Boston Airport Security Crackdown

Nearly six months after two planes that took off from Logan International Airport here crashed into the World Trade Center, officials announced that 20 airport employees were charged Wednesday with a series of mostly minor immigration violations.

U.S. Atty. Michael J. Sullivan said Wednesday that the review of employment records of 3,500 airport workers with access to secure areas began soon after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“It is an arduous task,” Sullivan said at an airport news conference. He said the records of about one-third of the employees at Logan with access to secure areas were “significantly, painstakingly screened. It is labor-intensive.”

A similar crackdown took place at Salt Lake City International Airport in December, in anticipation of the Winter Olympic Games, when 271 employees were fired.

Earlier this month, 27 workers at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport were indicted in a similar effort.

Logan Airport has been heavily criticized for lax security since terrorists took over the two planes bound for the West Coast on Sept. 11. A number of consultants--including a security expert from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv--have examined the facility since the attacks.

The employees charged here Wednesday all worked for businesses based at Logan. None of those charged worked for airlines or for Massport, the agency that oversees New England’s largest airport.

Officials said fraudulent information on job applications--ranging from fake birth dates to phony Social Security numbers--enabled the employees to obtain badges that allowed them access to tarmacs, baggage handling areas, runways and--as cleaning or food service workers--airplanes themselves.

Sullivan stressed Wednesday that “there is no indication that any of these 20 individuals were in any way connected with terrorist activities.”

Among the employers of those charged Wednesday was Argenbright Holdings, the security company that operated out of Logan until Sept. 11. Argenbright lost its contract at Logan and was replaced by another company.

A Massport spokesman said the record review leading to Wednesday’s arrests was only possible because federal officials stepped in. Jose Juves said Massport, which issues security badges to airport employees, does not have the authority to verify Social Security numbers.

“We did the maximum check permissible under the law with information made available to Massport,” Juves said.

Most of those charged here Wednesday were illegal immigrants accused of using forged, counterfeited or altered registration cards or other forms of improper documentation.

Depending on the charge, the maximum punishment is 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, Sullivan said. He noted that some of those taken into custody may face multiple charges.

Sullivan added that the only common element his office could find to link the individuals charged was “that they were 20 individuals looking for gainful employment.”