DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - FLORIDA: A DEPORTABLE IRANIAN & CAR BOMBS IN FLORIDA

Search for bomb in car driven by Iranian national in West Palm Beach comes up empty
By Leon Fooksman

Bomb technicians searched a car driven by an Iranian national Thursday west of West Palm Beach, but found no traces of a bomb or anything else suspicious, officials said.

Deputies closed a busy section of Military Trail between Summit and Forest Hill boulevards for about two hours so the Sheriff's Office bomb squad could search the four-door car in the parking lot of AutoZone.

The search was conducted as a result of a bomb-sniffing dog smelling something suspicious in a car driven by a man federal immigration officials took into custody.

Nassar David Ghelichkani, 44, was detained because his supervised release from a detention facility was withdrawn, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said.

An immigration judge ordered him to be deported but Iran refused to grant him traveling documents. So Ghelichkani remained in the United States until federal authorities were required to release him in 2004 and supervise his movements, Gonzalez said. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2001 requires ICE to release detainees after 180 days if deportation efforts are unsuccessful.

Federal agents received a recent tip that Ghelichkani was obtaining a Florida driver's license while claiming he was an American citizen. Agents tracked him down on Military Trail on Thursday afternoon and worked with a Sheriff's Office dog handler to search his car. Suspicions were set off when he lied to agents about his transportation, she said.

Officials are considering bringing criminal charges against him if they determine he fraudulently tried to obtain a driver's license, Gonzalez said.


Pertinent Links:

1) Search for bomb in car driven by Iranian national in West Palm Beach comes up empty