Crisis in Syria, Libya and elsewhere have generated massive flows of migrants, increasing the risk of stowaways on cargo vessels, a port official said.
A Libyan national is under the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being caught April 29 as a stowaway on a cargo vessel at the Port of Baltimore, an agency official confirmed on background.
The detention underscores the growing security threat of migrants from war-torn regions of the Middle East using the international shipping system to smuggle themselves across the border of other nations, David Espie, director of security at the Maryland Port Administration, testified early last month at a House hearing on port security.
Ali al-Hallouji is being detained at the Howard County Detention Center in Maryland, the ICE official said in an e-mail. According to Espie, the Libyan man snuck onto a Wallenius Wilhelmson Logistics (WWL) roll-on/roll-off vessel and hid in an automobile. He was discovered by the crew when he got out to find some food and water.
The ICE official did not indicate whether al-Hallouji was an economic or political refugee, or had any terrorist ties.
WWL did not respond to a request for comment.
Espie said he has heard from shipping line managers that migrants from Syria and other places who are able to reach Germany sometimes pay longshoremen to look the other way, or help them get on commercial vessels.
Trucks, automobiles, farm equipment, construction equipment and other products transported on car carriers do not undergo the same x-ray inspections or radiation checks as containerized cargo, Espie said.
Stowaways seeking a better life in developed countries like the United States have long been a problem for the maritime industry, but the difference now is that some are originating from the Middle East. The fear is that terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State might use cargo vessels as a way to reach U.S. shores.
Libyan stowaway caught at Port of Baltimore
