Illegal Florida Drivers' Licenses Include Commercial, Hazmat Licenses

[hatrack]

Corrupt employees in the Florida motor vehicles department illegally sold driver's licenses to more than 2,000 people, some of whom used the credentials to drive 18-wheelers and haul hazardous materials, federal authorities charged Thursday.

Federal agents were scrambling to track down people who bought the licenses and can now use them to board airplanes, cross U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada and drive potentially lethal cargo around the country.

Of the more than 2,000 licenses issued, 36 were for commercial drivers to operate trucks, and six to transport hazardous materials, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman Dean Boyd.

“These cases are important because a driver's license is a bad guy's ticket in,” Miami U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez said at a news conference. “It allows someone to operate heavy equipment, which can do a lot of damage,” he said. The licenses were all sold within the past two years, Boyd said."

EDIT

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050429/a_licenses29.art.htm

[formerrepuke]

1. "within the last two years"....good thing Jeb's in charge.....n/t