Hundreds nabbed in INS sting at airport

Greg Tuttle

Monday, Aug. 28, 2000 | 11:49 a.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Federal agents have made hundreds of arrests at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport since beginning a multistate crackdown on the flow of illegal immigrants in the Southwest.

Operation Denial has resulted in 824 arrests at McCarran since agents from the Immigration and Naturalization Service began 24-hour surveillance at the airport on Aug. 9, said Marc Sanders, assistant officer in charge of the INS office in Las Vegas.

A similar effort at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport has netted 963 aliens arrested for illegally entering the country, Sanders said this morning.

"We've had a pretty good operation so far," Sanders said.

INS officials began the crackdown nearly three weeks ago in an effort to stem the flow of illegal aliens who are increasingly using airlines to travel from the Southwest to cities across the country. The aliens pay a smuggler about $1,500 to secure airline tickets and transportation, usually from the Mexican border to the airport.

Sanders said the illegal immigrants are flying from Las Vegas to a variety of cities across the country. Major cities such as New York and Chicago are a common destination, he said.

The large number of airlines and the availability of nonstop flights and late-night departures from McCarran appear to be among the reasons the airport is attractive to illegal aliens, most coming from Mexico, Sanders said.

The Las Vegas INS office increased its enforcement staff from 10 agents to about 20 when the operation began. Undercover agents are working at the airport around the clock to spot suspected aliens travelling illegally in the country.

The airport crackdown has pushed many would-be fliers back onto roads as the smugglers, often called coyotes, try to evade detection and capture, Sanders said. Agents have seen an increase of illegal aliens arrested during traffic stops on major highways in Colorado and Utah in recent weeks, he said.

In Phoenix agents are also finding "drophouses" where illegal aliens are given refuge while awaiting transportation arrangements. So far none of the drophouses have been found in Las Vegas, Sanders said.

The operation has come under fire from some human rights groups, who complain the agents use racial profiling to target suspected illegal aliens. INS officials have said the operation focuses on patterns of behavior often associated with migrant smuggling, such as last-minute purchases of tickets and late-night travel.