Dismantling groups smuggling people from countries with terrorist ties is a priority, said John Torres, deputy assistant director for smuggling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But often when one smuggler is busted another eagerly fills his shoes.
After Boughader's arrest, smuggling of Lebanese through Tijuana ceased for several months, customs investigator Ramon Romo said in court documents filed in Mexico. Then intelligence in April 2003 revealed that five members of Hezbollah were preparing to cross the border, Romo said. Mexican authorities made some arrests.
Others have made it through. Kourani entered the United States via the Lebanon-Tijuana pipeline, paying $3,000 in Beirut to get a Mexican visa, according to court documents. On Feb. 4, 2001, he and another man were smuggled into California in the hidden compartment of a vehicle.
In June, Kourani was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist group.
Boughader acknowledged transporting a Lebanese man who worked at Al Manar, a global satellite television network owned and operated by Hezbollah and included on the U.S. State Department's Terrorist Exclusion List.
"I regret that what I was doing is against the law," said Boughader, a Mexican of Lebanese descent, "but I don't regret what I did to help people."
People are still getting such help.
"The checks they do at the border are still very bad," Boughader said, "because, regardless of everything, it is still easy to cross."
Pauline Arrillaga reported from Phoenix; Olga R. Rodriguez reported from Tijuana and Mexico City.
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Of special interest
These are the 35 countries the U.S. Border Patrol considers of "special interest" because of alleged sponsorship or support of terrorism, according to internal data provided by Border Patrol sources. Illegal immigrants apprehended from these nations are subjected to criminal database checks as well as additional probing from immigration or FBI investigators with federal Joint Terrorism Task Forces.
Afghanistan
Algeria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Djibouti
Egypt
Eritrea
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Malaysia
Mauritania
Morocco
North Korea
Oman
Pakistan
The Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Yemen
Source: Associated Press
Los Angeles Times
