A Detroit man who was set to be deported on Tuesday night escaped custody at New York's JFK International Airport.
He's Mohamadou Lamine Mbacke, 31, from Senegal.
ICE agents say he was in their custody when he flew from metro Detroit to JFK and was expected to be deported to Senegal.
However, surveillance video shows Mbacke got into a taxi around 9 p.m. and departed the airport. He is described as a black male, 6-feet-3 and about 190 pounds.
Mbacke entered the country lawfully in 2005 before violating the terms of his status. He was ordered to be deported in September 2015.
Mbacke has two prior arrests in Michigan for firearms possession, in 2012 and 2013. He served three years in state prison and was released in 2015.
Federal and local agents are searching for him, and members of the public should not try to apprehend him.
“The delay in notifying the Port Authority Police Department about the prisoner’s escape is yet another example of the lack of coordinated communications between all law enforcement agencies at our nation’s airports. The Port Authority PBA and its national affiliate, the American Alliance of Airport Police Officers, have been calling for coordinated, integrated communications between law enforcement agencies along with seamless video surveillance systems with law enforcement access. This should include a requirement that all law enforcement agencies must notify airport police commands when prisoners are being transported through airports and in terminals. Though these recommendations have not been put into effect, the public can be sure that our members will always strive to work effectively with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners.”
