Three men detained over Miami port entry attempt

MIAMI, Jan 8 (Reuters) Police detained the driver of a truck and two men found hiding inside at an entrance to the Port of Miami, a leading US cargo and cruise-ship gateway, authorities said.

The three were taken into custody after security staff at a delivery gate grew suspicious of the driver seeking entry, searched his truck and found two other men, a US Coast Guard spokesman said.

The men were of West Asian descent, the spokesman said. Miami police department spokesman Robert Williams said the FBI was questioning the men.

There were no signs the incident was terrorism related and US port security had not been changed in response, US Department of Homeland Security DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said. ''Increasingly, indications suggest this is a local law enforcement matter,'' he said.

Cruise ship boardings at the port were proceeding normally yesterday, one of the busiest days of the week for Miami's cruise lines, according to local media.

Some cargo operations were suspended at the port but ships were coming and going normally, the Coast Guard spokesman said. A spokeswoman for the Port of Miami was not immediately available.

Dubai Ports World of Dubai, which acquired a stake in the Miami port last year as part of a broader ports deal that caused a US political uproar driven by security fears, agreed in December to sell its US operations to a unit of American International Group .

The firm's facilities at the Port of Miami and other US ports were expected to remain formally under DP World ownership for about another month, a DP World spokesman said, but the terminals have not been managed by DP World since early last year.

The Port of Miami is a major shipping venue that hosted 3.6 million cruise passengers in 2005.

REUTERS DKS PM0451