Puño Airlines

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Puño Airlines was a sting operation set up by the U.S. Marshals in 1985. The Fugitive Investigative Strike Team VIII mailed letters to 200 wanted people saying they had won a free flight, a Bahamas weekend, and $350. Fourteen of those invited showed up and were arrested. The operation ran at Miami International Airport beside Air Haiti, with a Puño Airlines booth that airport workers were not told about. The team offered to send a limousine to pick up the “winners” and drive them to the airport; 13 agreed. This helped ensure suspects wouldn’t be carrying weapons, since there’s a metal detector before boarding. Two arrestees didn’t realize it was a sting: one called from prison to ask if he could reschedule, and another begged to delay so she could enjoy her vacation first. Marshal Wolfman went to the airport, stood about 100 yards away watching Puño Airlines, then approached the fake ticket counter after a fictitious name was paged over the loudspeakers. He was wanted for theft of a rental car. Konrāds Kalējs, a Latvian accused of collaborating with the Nazis, was also arrested. Puño means "fist" in Spanish.