Suspicious Items Found In Luggage

[MJS]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38928687/ns/us_news-security/

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands — Dutch investigators on Tuesday questioned two men arrested at Amsterdam's airport after authorities found suspicious items in their checked luggage, including a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, a knife and a box cutter.
The pair were arrested at Schiphol Airport after getting off a United Airlines flight from Chicago, where their decision to change their flight plans raised concerns, officials said.
They were being held at the airport for questioning, but neither has been charged with any offense in the Netherlands, said Martijn Boelhouwer, a spokesman for the national prosecutor's office.
Edmond Messchaert, a spokesman for the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said the organization was aware of the case. He would not comment further.
"We are in the loop. We were informed ... that this was going down and we are being kept informed of progress," Messchaert told The Associated Press.
Dutch authorities do not release the names of suspects in criminal investigations and Boelhouwer would not confirm their nationalities. He also declined to say if U.S. authorities had requested their extradition.
A U.S. law enforcement official identified the men as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi and Hezem al Murisi, NBC News reported.

Heard on the news today, that someone who is involved in the investigation, was wondering if this was a 'test' of airport security. Test or not, IMO, this is something that should be a big concern.

Airport screeners in Birmingham, Ala., first stopped al Soofi and sent him to additional screening because of his "bulky clothing," ABC News reported.
He told the Transportation Security Administration authorities he was carrying a lot of cash. Screeners found $7,000 on him, but he was not breaking any law by carrying that much money.

I dont know about anyone else, but I dont know anyone that carries that kind of cash on them.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38928687/ns/us_news-security/

Heard on the news today, that someone who is involved in the investigation, was wondering if this was a 'test' of airport security. Test or not, IMO, this is something that should be a big concern.

I dont know about anyone else, but I dont know anyone that carries that kind of cash on them.

I agree that the whole thing stinks to high heaven. Could well be a 'dry run' as suggested. Good catch by the authorities, too.

As to carrying large amounts of cash, it's unusual but not as much so as you might think. There are lots of businesses that are cash-only for certain aspects, and people travel by air to go on buying trips on a regular basis. Just like it is very common for certain gems dealers to carry millions in gems on their person when traveling. Not that they want people to know it, but it's not that uncommon.

 

[MA-Caver]

Indeed Bill.
I had once lost my cell phone and managed to find the person who picked it up... I drove over to his house and got it and gave him a nice tip for finding it. He told me that he tends to find all sorts of things. Once he found a woman's purse in the road and in the process of searching for identification he said that the lady had some $3000.00 in cash in her purse.
Also talked to some employees at a pizza parlor and they said another woman had left her clutch which held over $15,000.00 in cash in it.
It's stupid but people do it.
Most I had on my person at one time was over $1100.00 in cash.

If I were to carry anymore than that then I'd probably would found better ways to conceal it but still seven grand is a lot of cash even if broken down to hundred dollar bills. That's 70 pieces of paper that have to be folded in half so it makes for a pretty big bulge no matter how many ways you divide it up.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

That's 70 pieces of paper that have to be folded in half so it makes for a pretty big bulge no matter how many ways you divide it up.

Lot of people don't know it, but I was told back when I was in LE that the main reason the USA did away with 1,000 dollar bills was to thwart criminals and make it hard for the underground 'cash economy' to operate. In movies, you see guys carrying briefcases with a million dollars in it. Nope. Try a very very large duffle bag. That's 10,000 $100 USD bills. Not a small package.

I seldom carry ANY cash anymore. Sometimes pocket change, but otherwise, nothing. My debit card works fine for most things.

 

[Carol]

Lot of people don't know it, but I was told back when I was in LE that the main reason the USA did away with 1,000 dollar bills was to thwart criminals and make it hard for the underground 'cash economy' to operate.

My grandfather worked on the side as a coin dealer. That was a significant reason.

$1000 bills were used in finance before banks could wire money to each other. Once the wire system was in place, they became obsolete. The $1000 bills were then done away with out of concerns about the underground, but also out of concerns about counterfeiting.

Granddad was a fascinating guy. Miss him.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

The $1000 bills were then done away with out of concerns about the underground, but also out of concerns about counterfeiting.

I had heard that bit about the counterfeiting too, but you know, I'm not sure I buy it. Even back in the day, a $1,000 bill was rare. You weren't going to be able to pass it at a gas station, and it would even attract attention at a bank. I have always thought that's why $20 bills were more commonly counterfeited - people don't pay much attention to them.

Granddad was a fascinating guy. Miss him.

Sounds like it!

 

[Rich Parsons]

I remember Make A deal having both $1000 and $5000 bills on the show. Of course you were only allowed to take it to your local bank for deposit.

As to the items, the articles out today say they are not suspected of being a dry run, but there can be both honest and not so honest reasons for all of the things they found and how they found them. But they need to error on the side of caution.

 

[CanuckMA]

So they noticed the stuff in Chicago but waited 'till they got to Amsterdam to arrest them?

One company I worked for, I used to fly a lot with a kit in my suitcase. The kit was full of cutters, pliers, wires and electronic doodads. Never been looked at.

OTOH, on my flights to Israel, checked luggage is hand searched. Imagine that!!!

 

[Carol]

So they noticed the stuff in Chicago but waited 'till they got to Amsterdam to arrest them?

One company I worked for, I used to fly a lot with a kit in my suitcase. The kit was full of cutters, pliers, wires and electronic doodads. Never been looked at.

OTOH, on my flights to Israel, checked luggage is hand searched. Imagine that!!!

I can imagine that in a country like Israel which has a relatively small amount of air traffic, the lion's share going through Ben Gurion, which serves 11.5 Million air travelers per year. Much of what Israel does is admirable, but sadly not scalable to a nation that serves the needs of one-third of the entire world's air traffic....1.5 Billion passengers per year.

Threat detection technology does work, and it can detect a range of threats of threats (explosives, radioactive matierials) or suspect materiel such as lead or thin wires.

However, the scanning comes at cost....both a cost in dollars and a cost in time. There isn't an easy or elegant solution that for an application this large.

This sure looks like a "dry run" to me.

 

[CanuckMA]

It may be 11.5 million, but it's a single airport. You put your traffic through a bunch of airports.

You need a few more screeners at the back end. It does not take long to look through a suitcase.

I've also been on too many flights where my suitcase never made it on. Really tight connections are notorious for that. It should be real simple. If the suitcase doesn't make it on the flight, the passenger is taken off.

 

[MJS]

I agree that the whole thing stinks to high heaven. Could well be a 'dry run' as suggested. Good catch by the authorities, too.

As to carrying large amounts of cash, it's unusual but not as much so as you might think. There are lots of businesses that are cash-only for certain aspects, and people travel by air to go on buying trips on a regular basis. Just like it is very common for certain gems dealers to carry millions in gems on their person when traveling. Not that they want people to know it, but it's not that uncommon.

Ah...good points. Didn't think about that. OTOH, one would think that when questioned, the person would have a solid story, and one that could be verified, should a concern arise.

 

[MJS]

I can imagine that in a country like Israel which has a relatively small amount of air traffic, the lion's share going through Ben Gurion, which serves 11.5 Million air travelers per year. Much of what Israel does is admirable, but sadly not scalable to a nation that serves the needs of one-third of the entire world's air traffic....1.5 Billion passengers per year.

Threat detection technology does work, and it can detect a range of threats of threats (explosives, radioactive matierials) or suspect materiel such as lead or thin wires.

However, the scanning comes at cost....both a cost in dollars and a cost in time. There isn't an easy or elegant solution that for an application this large.

This sure looks like a "dry run" to me.

Good points, but what amazes me, is when the Govt. doesn't want to do something, because of the cost, yet when something bad does happen, suddenly, money is no object, and they go into some 'high security' routine, with everything beefed up. Either way, in the end, the money is being spent. IMO, I'd rather see the money spent before something bad happens.

 

[Carol]

Good points, but what amazes me, is when the Govt. doesn't want to do something, because of the cost, yet when something bad does happen, suddenly, money is no object, and they go into some 'high security' routine, with everything beefed up. Either way, in the end, the money is being spent. IMO, I'd rather see the money spent before something bad happens.

I agree with you completely!! I haven't been in the industry in 6 years, so to be honest I do not know what things look like today. I am sure there is much more threat detection coverage than their was 6 months ago, but I'm not sure how much more, and I wager the feds are being tight-lipped about it too.

 

[CanuckMA]

I agree with you completely!! I haven't been in the industry in 6 years, so to be honest I do not know what things look like today. I am sure there is much more threat detection coverage than their was 6 months ago, but I'm not sure how much more, and I wager the feds are being tight-lipped about it too.

I have no faith whatsoever on the luggage handling part. I've seen too many times luggage not following the passenger. Just last year, my eldest son went to Hong Kong to study for a semester. He came back, HK to Toronto with a stop over in Vancouver. His flight was delayed for 8 hours. His 3 pices of luggage made it to Toronto before him. On 3 different flights. How hard should it be to scan a piece of luggage and figure out that it doesn't belong on the flight it's about to be put on?