(CBS) The State Department said it was investigating alleged visa fraud at the U.S. Embassy in Qatar, where federal authorities say the alleged roommate of two Sept. 11 hijackers fraudulently obtained a U.S. visa.

The investigation, dubbed “Operation Eagle Strike,” focused on the alleged issuance of fraudulent visas to about 70 individuals at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, State Department spokesman Frederick Jones said.

Federal investigators have rounded up 31 people suspected of entering the country with visas illegally obtained at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, the official said Tuesday night, speaking only on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials do not believe there are any known terrorists among the illegal immigrants still at large, but want to determine why each person came to the United States, according to a government official familiar with the search. A Justice Department task force seeking illegal immigrants has been assigned to locate the Middle East nationals allegedly involved in the bribery scheme.

At the State Department, agency spokesman Frederick Jones said the Diplomatic Security Service launched Operation Eagle Strike late last year to investigate allegations of visa fraud in the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, and to apprehend people with illegal visas.

Jones says the investigation determined that 71 people received visas for which appropriate written records were not found. He says so far 31 have been taken into custody, 29 are being sought, six left the United States and five are dependents - children and/or spouses. Jones adds that all visa issuance posts are being checked.

Jones tells CBS News that a long list of agencies and offices is involved in the probe. He says the State Department is working together with the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Justice Department, and numerous U.S. Attorneys offices in various parts of the country.

The alleged bribery scheme included payoffs of more than $13,000, the official said.

Also Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that 131 Pakistani detainees were secretly deported on a chartered jet from a Louisiana airport June 26.

The detainees had been held for months after Sept. 11 at Immigration and Naturalization Service facilities around the country. None was charged with a terrorism-related crime. A majority of them, a Pakistani official said, had been arrested under a Justice Department program to locate and apprehend immigrants who have ignored previous deportation orders and who came under scrutiny after Sept. 11.

The Justice Department chartered the jet as a security precaution after Pakistani officials urged the speedy deportation of detainees.

The alleged visa fraud prompted the Diplomatic Security Service to launch Operation Eagle Strike late last year to investigate and to capture people with illegal visas, according to Frederick Jones, a State Department spokesman.

The investigation found 71 people received visas for which appropriate written records were not found, he said. Of those, 31 were taken into custody, 29 are being sought, six left the United States and five are dependents — children and spouses, he said.

All visa issuance posts are being checked, Jones said.

The State Department last week interviewed the former employee, a U.S. citizen who lives in Virginia, the U.S. official said. He and another employee processed visa applications in Qatar from April 2000 to July 2001, the official said.

The other employee lives in Jordan and is also being investigated, the official said.

Among those who allegedly bought an illegal visa was Ramsi Al-Shannaq, who investigators believe lived with hijackers Hani Hanjour and Nawaq Al-Hazmi in a Washington suburb the summer before the attacks. On June 24, Al-Shannaq was arrested by FBI and INS agents at a home in Baltimore and charged with obtaining a fake visa in Qatar.

There is no evidence Al-Shannaq aided the hijackers, his appointed attorney, Jim Wyda, has said.

ABC News reported Tuesday that another man who allegedly bought an illegal visa, Ahmed Ahmad, also lived with Al-Hazmi and Hanjour.

Since the attacks, the government has come under fire for the way it handles visas.

Although all 19 hijackers came to the United States on valid visas, several were in the country illegally on Sept. 11. The INS also mailed notices of visa extensions for two of the hijackers months after the attacks.

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