PORTLAND – It has been determined that the two detainees from Pakistan who were apprehended in Brewer on Tuesday after a statewide manhunt are in the United States illegally.

“They both entered as visitors and overstayed the time granted to them as visitors,” said Maria Hurley, Interim District Director for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I don’t know what their official intent for entering the country was. One apparently should have departed the United States in 1999. The other apparently should have departed in 2001.”

Currently, there are no criminal charges against the couple who hailed a taxi in New York City and traveled to Maine, apparently on their way to Canada. BICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Maine Department of Public Safety issued a statewide alert Tuesday morning after the taxicab stopped in Augusta for gas and was reported to authorities. The report indicated three dark-skinned persons were in the taxicab. After the vehicle was stopped on South Main Street in Brewer about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning to check the identification of the people, the driver was released because he was found to be a U.S. citizen.

The man and woman from Pakistan were detained and then transported to Penobscot County Jail until Department of Homeland Security personnel picked them up Tuesday afternoon and moved them to Portland.

“They’re still being processed,” said Hurley. “We don’t have all the information yet. Once we have all the facts, a determination will be made as to whether they will remain in BICE custody and to whether they will be seen by an immigration judge.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, the couple were being held at the Portland district BICE office in Portland.

“There are no criminal charges against them,” Hurley added.

The couple were interviewed throughout the day, and final results of the investigations were unavailable by press time.

“We’re still in the midst of processing, so I don’t have all the facts available right now,” Hurley said Wednesday afternoon.