A Nigerian who allegedly tried to use one of at least 10 bogus boarding passes to get on a Delta Air Lines flight to Atlanta was arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles.
It was the second time in a few days that Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi allegedly used and attempted to use out-of-date boarding passes in other travelers’ names.
Last week, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit, he managed to escape the attention of Virgin America agents and airport security at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and boarded a flight to L.A.
But when he tried to fly from L.A. to Atlanta on Wednesday, agents from the FBI and U.S. Custom and Border Patrol were at the Delta counter at Los Angeles International Airport.
An FBI spokeswoman told the AJC on Thursday that Noibi had been under surveillance since being detained and questioned after the earlier incident involving the Virgin flight.
After eluding Virgin agents and Transportation Security Administration agents at New York’s JFK, Noibi boarded the Virgin America flight to California on June 24. While in flight, passengers began complaining about an odor coming from the passenger. When flight crew approached the man, they noticed he was sitting in an unassigned seat and asked him for his boarding pass.
The FBI affidavit said Noibi was evasive and the flight crew eventually determined that not only was his boarding pass outdated, it wasn't in his name, nor was he on the passenger list. He was using a boarding pass that a traveler had lost on a N.Y. subway.
An FBI agent was waiting for Noibi when he landed at LAX. He told the agent he was traveling to recruit people for his software business, the affidavit says.
Noibi underwent a "security sweep" after he was detained, which included a criminal background check, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Thursday. She declined to say what the check uncovered or why he was not arrested on June 24.
On Wednesday, an FBI agent and an agent from U.S. Custom and Border Protection were watching as passengers at the L.A. airport boarded Delta Flight 46 to Atlanta at 6:10 a.m.
Suddenly, Noibi approached the counter and handed a Delta agent a boarding pass, but the pass was returned to him after the agent said it was only valid for the previous day.
Noibi tried to persuade the agent to allow him to board, saying “they” told him the previous day that he would be allowed to travel on the boarding pass. It was at that time that the federal agents approached him, according to the affidavit.
When asked if he had any other boarding passes, “Noibi pulled from his rear pocket two boarding passes,” the FBI agent said in the affidavit. “Both boarding passes were not in his name.”
Two of Noibi’s bags were searched and the agent found 10 more boarding passes in various individuals’ names. Noibi did not have any pass in his name. He also didn’t have any money on him.
Eimiller, the spokeswoman, would not say how the agents knew he would be at the airport for the flight to Atlanta five days after the Virgin America incident. She also would not say why Noibi was traveling to Atlanta other than to say he may have family here.
Noibi's ability to make it through security checkpoints in New York, meanwhile, raised concerns as the city and nation prepare to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"Every passenger that passes through security checkpoints is subject to many layers of security including thorough physical screening at the checkpoint," Transportation Security Administration spokesman Greg Soule told the Associated Press. "TSA's review of this matter indicates that the passenger went through screening."
The FBI spokeswoman said Noibi did not appear to be a threat to passengers on the flight and he made no threats.
He was being held in Los Angeles on felony stowaway charges and has a hearing on Friday, when bail may be set.. If convicted, Noibi could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
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