Lewiston, N.Y. - U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Field Operations announced the arrest of a citizen of Gambia on charges of false claim to U.S. Citizenship, fraud and misuse of a passport. The subject is also wanted on charges of credit card fraud.
On
Dec. 30, CBP officers encountered a 26-year-old male at the
Lewiston-Queenston Bridge border crossing in Lewiston, N.Y. The subject
was being returned to the United States by Canadian authorities after
being denied entry into Canada on the same date. The subject advised CBP
officers that he was a United States citizen and presented a U.S.
passport as proof of citizenship and identity. Initial examination of
the presented document revealed what appeared to be inconsistencies on
the biographic page. The subject was referred to CBP secondary
enforcement for verification of his citizenship.
During
the course of the secondary interview, the subject again advised CBP
officers that he was a U.S. citizen born and raised in the Bronx, N.Y.,
and has spent his entire life in the United States. CBP officer noticed
the subject had an accent not consistent with someone who had grown up
in the New York City area.
A query of
the subject’s fingerprints resulted in the discovery of a record
indicating the prints belonged to Ebrima Sumareh, a 26 year-old citizen
from Gambia. Additional record checks revealed that Mr. Sumareh had an
active federal warrant of arrest issued by the U.S. Secret Service on
Dec. 14 of this year. The warrant charged Mr. Sumareh with the illegal
use of a credit card.
When confronted
with the evidence discovered by CBP, the subject recanted his original
claim to U.S. citizenship and advised CBP officers that he was in fact a
citizen of Gambia. Mr. Sumareh advised CBP officers that he stole the
presented passport from his cousin and was aware of his active warrant
of arrest. He further stated that he had recently escaped from a halfway
house in Ohio, where he was being held pending federal prosecution.
Mr.
Sumareh was arrested by CBP officers and charged with false claim to
citizenship, fraud and false statements. He is currently being detained
at the Niagara County Jail pending prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Western District of New York.
U.S.
Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the
Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and
protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of
entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out
of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
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