SEATTLE – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations officers at the Seattle Seaport took into custody and arrested a man wanted in Montana for assaulting another man with a knife on May 23.
CBP officers arrested Justin Westermeyer, 28, after being informed by the Port of Seattle Police Department of a tip they had received. A name check revealed that Westermeyer was the subject of a National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) felony warrant. He was attempting to enter the United States as an employee aboard a commercial fishing vessel arriving at Seattle terminal 90 from Alaska after transiting international waters.
“CBP officers in the Area Port of Seattle continuously target and apprehend wanted fugitives arriving in the United States,” said Area Port Director Mark Wilkerson. “Our efforts, in coordination with state and local law enforcement agencies, are part of the ongoing effort to keep communities safe.”
After the outstanding warrant for arrest was verified with the Port of Seattle Police Department, Westermeyer was turned over to Port Police for extradition back to Montana.
NCIC is a centralized automated data base designed to share information among law enforcement agencies including outstanding warrants for a wide range of offenses. CBP officers on the U.S./Canadian border have made previous arrests of individuals wanted for homicide, escape, money laundering, robbery, narcotics distribution, sexual child abuse, fraud, larceny and military desertion, based on information from NCIC.