April 5, 2006 – By Associated Press

“SEATTLE – Twenty-two people were being held early Wednesday after they apparently arrived in a 40-foot cargo container aboard a ship from China, officials said.

“Port of Seattle security guards spotted the 18 men and four women about 1 a.m. at Terminal 18, determined that they were not crew members from the recently arrived cargo ship Rotterdam and summoned federal authorities, said Michael Milne, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“All appeared to be Chinese nationals in their 20s and 30s and in good physical condition after about 15 days in a 40-foot container that was loaded onto the ship in Shanghai, China, Milne said.

“None appeared to be in control or directing the others, nor was there any evidence of ‘any real criminal terrorist activity … just an alien smuggling operation,’ Milne said …

“It was apparently the first detection of a human smuggling attempt using a cargo container in Seattle since a flurry along the U.S. and Canadian West Coast in 2000 and 2001 …

“The Rotterdam docked about 9 a.m. Tuesday and was carrying general cargo. After Shanghai, the ship made three stops at other Asian ports – Milne said he did not know which ones – and then at Pusan, South Korea, before heading for Seattle.

“Early Wednesday the group apparently pried open the container, lowered themselves about seven feet to the ground and tried to slip out of the secured terminal area, he said.

“About half were discovered by a guard ‘on a routine security patrol’ within the terminal and the other half were spotted trying to get out through Gate 4, Milne said.

“Once they were intercepted, ‘there was no attempt to flee or hide,’ he said. ‘They were cooperative.’

“Port and city police as well as federal authorities established a cordon, checked cars leaving Harbor Island and are confident no one who might have been in the container escaped detection, Milne said.”

[Dr. Flynn’s scenario, presented to an Investigations Committee on Homeland Security, and covered in our Vol. VII, Art.1 commentary, described a sophisticated effort to smuggle a weapon of mass destruction on our soil. After spending billions over the last 1,669 days for Homeland Security, we now know that the alphabet-soup groups are unreliable, and that it was a fortuitous “routine security patrol” that inadvertently spotted these unsophisticated aliens …16 hours after their arrival.]