TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Port Officials Adept At Spotting Phony Credentials

ADVERTISEMENT

By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 10, 2008

TAMPA - About two to three people each week are arrested after presenting fraudulent identification to enter the seaport, officials at the Tampa Port Authority estimated Thursday.

Anyone entering the Port of Tampa is required to show a government-issued identification card, said Jeff Smith, the port's compliance manager. Out of the hundreds of people who attempt to enter port property, however, some people fail to bring the proper paperwork while others submit phony credentials.

Hillsborough County deputies, who assist with port security, arrested a man and a woman from Dade City on Wednesday when they tried to enter 2002 Maritime Blvd. with fraudulent resident-alien cards, affidavits state.

Mario Espinosa-Robero, 48, and Lilia Sanchez-Lopez, 46, each were held at Orient Road Jail on $2,000 bail Thursday. Each is charged with providing false information to obtain a seaport security ID, a felony.

Espinosa-Robero and Sanchez-Lopez had valid passports but fraudulent resident-alien cards, Smith said.

The two were attempting to enter the port to perform asbestos remediation, he said.

Jail records list Espinosa-Robero and Sanchez-Lopez as employees of Lang Environmental Inc. at 6418 Badger Drive, Tampa. A woman who answered the phone at the company on Thursday said no one was available to comment.

Smith said state statutes require background checks and proper credentials from those seeking unescorted access on port property.

"We have some folks who might not have the proper paperwork with them and come back with what they need," he said.

Other times, port security discovers the credentials are counterfeit. "There's a fairly substantial black-market trade in fraudulent credentials," Smith said.

Those carrying counterfeit credentials include truck drivers and day laborers, he said.

With the volume of visitors to the port, security has grown adept at spotting phony credentials, said Andy Fobes, a port authority spokesman.

"It's pretty routine for us," he said. "It's just our folks doing their job."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT