Customs official honored for work

MANDAN, N.D. – Retired U.S Customs inspector Diana Dean has been called a hero for helping foil a major terrorist attack five years ago. These days, her watchful eye is trained more on her 2-year-old granddaughter.

Baby-sitting is a tough, rewarding job, Dean says, but she often thinks back to Dec. 14, 1999, when she helped arrest a man in Port Angeles, Wash., after finding bomb-making materials in his rental car.

Dean said she still works with Customs officials and the FBI, giving talks and making training films on border protection.

She believes the nation’s borders are better protected now, with increased personnel and technology. She said the United States must stay focused on the battle against terrorism.

“I think we’re safer. We’re all so honed in and aware,” Dean said. “But I think to a person, we have underestimated the terrorists.”

On Friday, U.S. Customs officials are to rename an anti-terrorism award in honor of Dean and an inspector in Orlando, Fla. who prevented a suspected terrorist from entering the United States a few weeks before the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

It’s called the Diana Dean and Jose Melendez-Perez Anti-Terrorism Award.

“We are proud to name the (award) in their honor,” said Robert Bonner, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“I’m surprised and honored,” Perez said. “I was just doing what I get paid to do.”

The award will be given to Customs inspectors for exemplary work in protecting the nation’s borders, agency officials said.

“I’m real honored,” Dean said Wednesday night, as she prepared to travel to Washington, D.C., for the award ceremony. “It’s very unexpected.”

Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian national, was arrested by Dean and three other inspectors after they found more than 100 pounds of explosives in the trunk of his car as he arrived from Canada by ferry at Port Angeles.

Dean said she was immediately suspicious of Ressam. “He was agitated and very nervous,” she said.

Ressam bolted from the car and was caught by three customs inspectors a few blocks away, Dean said. He was convicted in April 2001 of terrorist conspiracy and eight other charges. He is awaiting sentencing.

Dean said Ressam’s destination was Southern California, where he planned to blow up the Los Angeles International Airport during millennium celebrations.

“I really try not to think about what might have happened – it’s too horrific,” Dean said. “But I often find my mind going back to him.”

Dean retired last year, after 24 years with the agency. She was born in Bismarck and returned to North Dakota to be close to her family.