San Juan, Puerto Rico – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested Monday a citizen of the Dominican Republic trying to use a fraudulent U.S. passport to illegally re-enter the island via the San Juan-Santo Domingo ferry.
Francisco Antonio Flores-Alberto, 37, arrived at the San Juan Pan American Dock on board the Caribbean Fantasy Ferry from the Dominican Republic, and applied for admission presenting a United States passport bearing his photo and issued under the name “Ernesto Moises Esquilin-Carrasquillo.”
When the passport was scanned, the database revealed that it was reported as lost. A second query revealed two different persons using the same document.
CBP enforcement officers confronted the passenger with the facts, which he later confirmed that he had applied for a U.S. passport using a purchased Puerto Rico birth certificate, driver’s license and a social security card in Philadelphia.
Further review showed that his real name was Francisco Antonio Flores-Alberto, arrested by Reading Police, convicted in 2003 for controlled substance violations at the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County, Pennsylvania, serving three years and was subsequently removed to the Dominican Republic.
If convicted, he could be fined, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. All defendants are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
