Man Pleads Guilty to Using Fraudulent Credentials to Enter Port Elizabeth Container Terminals
A Haitian national pleaded guilty Oct. 18 to entry into a seaport under false pretenses, said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Benedick Dextra obtained fraudulent documents under the name of Benedick Louis. Dextra then used those illegal documents to obtain a New York driver’s license and a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). This allowed him access to secure areas, such as container terminals in Port Elizabeth, N.J., ICE said.
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In 2009, as part of a routine customs inspection, Dextra was stopped by CBP officers as his truck exited a terminal at Port Elizabeth, ICE said. Dextra presented a TWIC credential bearing the name Benedick Louis. Subsequent checks revealed that Benedick Louis and Benedick Dextra were the same individual. He was arrested Oct. 22, 2010, and charged with violating the TWIC program.
The TWIC program is a Transportation Security Administration-led security initiative that ensures individuals who pose a threat do not gain unescorted access to secure areas of the nation's maritime transportation system. To obtain a TWIC, an individual must provide biographic and biometric information such as fingerprints, be photographed and successfully pass a security threat assessment by TSA. TWICs are tamper-resistant biometric credentials issued to workers who require unescorted access to secure areas of ports, vessels and outer continental shelf facilities.