Airport Employees To Be Screened, Same As Pax
A loophole
in airport security apparently allowed two baggage handlers to
bypass airport screeners on several occasions, and board commercial
flights carrying a bag containing guns and drugs. On Thursday,
federal lawmakers introduced legislation that would close that
gaping hole.
Representative Nita Lowey, D-NY, co-sponsored a bill with
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson that would
mandate airports to subject all workers with access to secure and
sterile areas the same screening process as passengers.
"It's unfathomable that more than five years after September
11th, a measure as fundamental and simple as this one still has not
been implemented," said Lowey, who serves on the House Committee on
Homeland Security. "Meticulously screening passengers but giving
workers open access is like installing an expensive home security
system but leaving your back door wide open."
Little is known about exactly how the Comair baggage handlers
managed to carry a duffel bag with 14 guns and eight pounds of
marijuana onto a Delta flight bound for Puerto Rico on Monday and
law enforcement isn't talking. Court documents state they used
their employee uniforms and airport identification cards to enter
restricted areas and bypass screeners.
As ANN previously reported,
Thomas Anthony Munoz, 22, of Kissimmee, FL was arrested in San Juan
as he got off the plane at the Luis Munoz Marin International
Airport, carrying the bag containing the guns and drugs, said
Carlos Baixauli, a Miami-based special agent with the U.S. Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Zabdiel J. Santiago Balaguer, 22, also of Kissimmee, boarded the
airplane, but was removed by security screeners after police
received a tip. He was released when no weapons or drugs were found
on him, according to court records. Authorities arrested him
Tuesday, according to Florida Today.
Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in
2001. This required the Transportation Security Administration to
implement worker screening. Now, more than five years later, the
TSA has failed to enforce this basic policy or even set a deadline
for doing so, Lowey said.
Two air marshals were aboard the Florida to San Juan flight, but
it is unknown if either knew the guns were there, according to the
Associated Press. Investigators believe this is part of a larger
smuggling operation.
No security changes have been made as of yet.