
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 in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...
, 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 ...
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 Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...
, 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'', 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 countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
for "fist") booth beside
Air Haiti in
Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
, 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 rol ...
.
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"](_blank)
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...
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. A metal detector consists of a control box, an adjustable shaft, and ...
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, more fully, a speaker system) is a combination of one or more speaker drivers, an enclosure, and electrical connections (possibly including a crossover network). The speaker driver is an ...
, Wolfman presented himself at the replica ticket booth.
Wolfman was wanted for theft of a
rental car.
[Rowand, Andrea. "Undercover project FIST nets 3,000-plus fugitives", '' St. Petersburg Times'', June 17, 1985]
Konrāds Kalējs, a Latvian accused of collaboration with the
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
s, was also arrested in the operation.
["Retired US Marshals Association", Turner Publishing, p. 25]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puno Airlines
Front organizations
United States Marshals Service