PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Virginia man, wanted on numerous felony charges, as he attempted to board an international flight on Monday at Philadelphia International Airport.
CBP officers arrested Tye’quan Juwan Thompson, 23, of Norfolk, Va., at the departure gate for a flight to Doha, Qatar. Thompson was wanted by the Virginia Beach, Va., Police Department for more than a dozen felonies, including firearms, malicious assault, and firing into an occupied building.
While vetting passenger manifests of departing international flights, CBP officers discovered the arrest warrant for Thompson. Officers also noticed that Thompson did not have a return flight reservation.
Officers responded to the departure gate, identified Thompson, and took him back to CBP’s inspection station.
CBP officers then verified that Thompson was the subject of the arrest warrant, and then confirmed with the Virginia Beach Police Department that the warrant remained active.
CBP officers arrested Thompson and turned him over to the Tinicum Township, Pa., Police Department to initiate the extradition process.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
“One way that law enforcement can help reduce gun violence is to assure that allegedly dangerous perpetrators face severe consequences. Customs and Border Protection continues to help our local law enforcement partners by capturing suspects fleeing the United States and returning them to face justice,” said Shawn Polley, CBP’s Acting Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia.
CBP often works with its interagency law enforcement partners to apprehend dangerous fugitives. On a typical day last year, CBP arrested an average of 41 wanted persons at our nation’s international airports, seaports, and land border crossings.
CBP’s border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
See what CBP accomplished during “A Typical Day” in 2022. Learn more at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.