Marshal Wolfman arrested at Puno Airlines - USMS Photo

In 1985, the Fugitive Investigative Strike Team VIII, part of the

United States Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforceme ...

, set up Puño Airlines, a

front organization A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...

to lure wanted criminals into the open where they could be arrested – by sending a letter suggesting the fugitive had won a free flight, a weekend in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

, and $350 in spending money. In total, 200 fugitives were sent the offer, and 14 were arrested after showing up to claim their winnings.Robins, Charlie. "Just another sting in the mail", ''

Gainesville Sun ''The Gainesville Sun'' () is a newspaper published daily in Gainesville, Florida, United States, covering the North-Central portion of the state. The paper is published by Lynni Henderson, the paper's Executive Editor is Douglas Ray and the edi ...

'', June 25, 1985 The FIST VIII had set up a ''Puño Airlines'' (''puño'' is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

for "fist") booth beside

Air Haiti The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

, and did not tell any of the airport employees about the

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...

. They then offered to send a limo to pick up the "winners" and bring them to the airport, to which 13 fugitives agreed."Creative stings"

Police later said that offering a drive to the airport helped ensure that suspects would not carry weapons, knowing there was a

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

before boarding their flights. Two of the arrested fugitives did not realise the nature of the operation: one phoned from prison to ask if he could reschedule his flight, while another begged cops to "take care of this next week", noting she had won a trip and wanted to enjoy her vacation first. Marshall Wolfman turned up at the airport himself, but stood approximately 100 yards away from Puño Airlines, eyeing it suspiciously. After FIST VIII arranged to page a fictitious name to the counter over the

loudspeakers A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an Acoustical engineering#Electroacoustics, electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often ...

, Wolfman presented himself at the replica ticket booth. Wolfman was wanted for theft of a

rental car Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for al ...

.Rowand, Andrea. "Undercover project FIST nets 3,000-plus fugitives", ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'', June 17, 1985

Konrāds Kalējs Konrāds Kalējs (26 June 1913 – 8 November 2001) was a Latvian soldier who was a Nazi collaborator and an alleged war criminal during World War II. He gained notoriety for evading calls for his prosecution across four countries, more than o ...

, a Latvian accused of collaboration with the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s, was also arrested in the operation."Retired US Marshals Association",

Turner Publishing Turner Publishing Company is an American independent book publisher based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company is in the top 101 independent publishing companies in the U.S. as compiled bBookmarket.com and has been named four times to ''Publish ...

, p. 25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puno Airlines Front organizations United States Marshals Service