Moroccan Man Found Hiding Under a Cargo Crane on a Ship Bound for Louisiana Is Charged as a Stowaway
El Mahdi Koutabi, 34, was found under a cargo crane on a ship bound for Louisiana and said it was his fourth such trip, a complaint says.
A 34-year-old Moroccan man found hiding beneath a cargo crane aboard a ship bound for Louisiana has been indicted in New Orleans on a federal charge of being a stowaway, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said.
A federal grand jury indicted El Mahdi Koutabi on Oct. 2, 2026, on one count under 18 U.S.C. § 2199, the federal stowaway law. He faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.
The voyage, from the complaint
The details of how he was found are in the criminal complaint filed in federal court on Sept. 29, 2026, and sworn to by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement officer at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. According to the officer’s affidavit:
- On Sept. 10, 2026, the motor vessel Unity Moon left Jorf Lasfar, Morocco, bound for Gramercy, Louisiana, on the Mississippi River.
- On Sept. 21, 2026, crew members found Koutabi hiding beneath cargo crane No. 4. CBP in New Orleans was told the same day.
- On Sept. 27, 2026, the ship arrived at the Boothville Anchorage near Venice, Louisiana, and Koutabi was taken to the CBP office at the New Orleans airport to be processed for return to Morocco.
After he was told his rights and interviewed through an interpreter, Koutabi admitted hiding aboard without the consent of the ship’s owner, consignee or master in order to get transportation from Morocco, the officer wrote. He also said it was his fourth time getting transportation aboard a ship without consent or authorization, according to the affidavit. The complaint does not say where or when the earlier trips took place.
The charge
The indictment says that on Sept. 27, 2026, Koutabi entered U.S. jurisdiction aboard a vessel after boarding and hiding himself on it without the consent of its owner, charterer, master or person in command, with the intent of obtaining transportation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The case began as a complaint, case No. 2:26-mj-00121, and is now proceeding on the indictment as case No. 2:26-cr-00232.
CBP officers investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine M. Calogero is prosecuting it. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the case is part of Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department immigration and cartel enforcement initiative.
Koutabi is presumed innocent. The allegations have not been proven in court.
