Kojak Biometric Scanner Flags Fugitive at the Laredo Border

Integrated Biometrics (IB) is boasting about the role that its technology played in the apprehension of a wanted fugitive at the Laredo Port of Entry. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested Filiberto Martinez Aguillon at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge while he was crossing the border from Mexico into the United States on July 9.

Aguillon was identified with IB’s Kojak 10-print fingerprint scanner, which matched his fingerprints to an outstanding warrant from the Winston-Salem Police Department in North Carolina. He is wanted for the statutory rape of a child, and was transferred to the Webb County Jail in Laredo, Texas, after being taken into custody.

CBP purchased more than 5,000 Kojak scanners in a deal that was finalized last April. Those scanners are FBI-certified, and have since been deployed to help screen travelers at ports of entry across the country. Integrated Biometrics has indicated that the deal significantly contributed to its 50 percent year-over-year revenue growth in 2019.

“We are proud of the work we do with the CBP and other law enforcement agencies around the world,” said IB EVP David Gerulski. “Helping to stop criminals, safeguarding an individual’s right to vote, guaranteeing access to healthcare and education, identifying disaster victims to bring closure to their families – these are the kinds of things that keep us going, and maintain our focus on being the best.”

It’s also worth noting that the Kojak scanner has been deployed for purposes other than border control. For example, the Kojak recently appeared in a new biometric ATM from DAL-Global and Aertight Systems. Before that, IB donated scanners to the humanitarian organization Una Torre de Ayuda to facilitate relief efforts following an earthquake in 2018. The scanners were used to catch fraudulent aid requests and make sure that the organization’s limited resources were distributed to those in need.

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August 4, 2020 – by Eric Weiss