OPERATION MISTAKEN ID: DEA RAIDS WRONG HOUSE

For Nelson Robles, this week's Operation Ramp Rat and Operation Sky Chef
scandal hit home -- literally.

The 45-year-old father, his wife and 11-year-old son were home sleeping
when federal agents pounded on the door of their West Dade home at 4 a.m.
Wednesday. Drug Enforcement Administration agents nabbed dozens of American
Airlines and Sky Chef employees at their homes before dawn that day -- the
culmination of a two-year investigation into airport smuggling.

But the feds made a mistake: They were looking for a different Nelson
Robles, a 30-year-old man who works for American Airlines and lives at 1636
SW 16th St.

The Nelson Robles agents confronted Wednesday is 15 years older, transports
patients for Humana, and lives in the 8200 block of Northwest 10th Street.

"It's a very scary thing," Robles said of the raid. "They threatened to
break down the door. You think they will flatten you, you think they will
kill you. . . . I was very lucky that I didn't get beat up."

DEA spokesman Brent Eaton confirmed that agents approached the wrong man.

"When you are trying to find 58 people, something can fall through the
cracks," he said.

Robles is upset. Not only did he and his family have to deal with the raid,
but he said that when agents realized they didn't have their man, they
searched Robles' closets to see if they were hiding the suspect Nelson
Robles. Robles said he is not related to the younger Robles and has never
met him.

To top it off, Robles woke up and saw his address listed in the newspaper
as the home of the accused.

Agents "were too busy high-fiving to check their information," he said.