Airport Customs Officer Bribed By Illegal Aliens

Three other men were also charged in the same ring for bringing the illegal aliens who bribed the officer into the country.

A veteran U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at one of the nation’s busiest inspection stations has been charged with accepting cash bribes from foreigners entering the country illegally.

The Border Protection officer (Ronald Merker) worked at the passport control section in Miami International Airport and federal authorities say he accepted $1,000 a pop from foreigners, many of them South American, in exchange for allowing them into the U.S.

An immigration officer since 1983, Merker took bribes from at least four Brazilians and possibly dozens more over a two-year period. The illegal aliens would go through the line designated only for United States citizens at the airport’s busy Concourse E.

Nearly 20,000 foreign travelers with passports, visas and other legitimate documents go through the concourse daily making it among the nation’s busiest foreign traveler inspection stations in the country. Three other men were also charged in the same ring for bringing the illegal aliens who bribed the officer into the country. The ringleader (Clodoaldo Ribeiro) was also charged with illegally reentering the country after being deported, fraudulently obtaining a U.S. passport and falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen.

http://www.corruptionchronicles.com/2007/09/airport_customs_officer_bribed.html

2007-09-15