If you have complaints about TSA, at least they haven’t pulled any stunts as dumb as placing real explosives in the luggage of innocent passengers as part of a security test. The BBC reports:
Irish police have released a man held over an explosives find, after Slovak authorities admitted planting them in his luggage as part of a security test.The explosives were among eight contraband items placed with passengers at Bratislava Airport last weekend, broadcaster RTE reported. The 49-year-old man unwittingly brought the material into Dublin when he returned from his Christmas holidays. He was arrested on Tuesday morning but has since been released without charge.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said he was very concerned that Irish police had not been alerted for three days.
Airport security detected seven of the illicit items, but the eighth – 90g of research development explosive – managed to escape detection. Slovak authorities were reportedly trying to test screening procedures for checked-in luggage by placing items with unwitting passengers.
Hat tip: Slashdot.
SW says:
Happy New Year, from Bratislava!
January 5, 2010, 11:12 pmOrin Kerr says:
On the bright side, I assume the explosives were duty-free.
January 5, 2010, 11:16 pmMark N. says:
I wonder if the guy has any sort of compensation claim? The Irish police didn’t arrest and hold him wrongfully, because he really did have explosives. The Slovak police are clearly at fault, but I don’t know enough to know if they’d be legally liable for anything.
January 5, 2010, 11:23 pmGrokodile says:
Great, soon the terrorists be will hopping on flights hoping they are the lucky recipients of security testing.
Couldn’t they just use play-doh, or better yet silly-putty, or something? Wait, is silly-putty explosive?
January 5, 2010, 11:29 pmLarryA says:
V247, “If you haven’t done anything wrong…”
January 5, 2010, 11:30 pmCorky Boyd says:
The worst problem this Irishman has is the record of his arrest on explosives charges will probably stay with him, even though the charges were dropped. He may find himself on a perpetual no fly list and even worse.
He should insist the arrest record be expunged.
January 6, 2010, 12:28 amAl says:
Indeed. Unfortunately, expunging one’s arrest/conviction record only works within the law of one country, and other countries are not bound to respect it. I understand the United States, for one, has a policy of demanding a record of all foreign arrests and convictions of visa applications, regardless of any expurgations.
January 6, 2010, 2:35 amHm says:
if this was in Poland, the jokes wouldn’t stop for years…
January 6, 2010, 3:48 amAnderson says:
Oh man. Imagine the guy’s despair when the explosives were found, and his protestations of innocence ….
January 6, 2010, 7:39 ampst314 says:
I think I’ve read of this sort of test being done in the past, but cannot remember where.
January 6, 2010, 7:50 amfishbane says:
Another example here. I have a memory of this happening with dummy explosives a few years back in the U.S., but can’t find a reference. (I think I recall that local cops and a SWAT team were involved in that one. It might have been Radley Baklo’s beat, but I’m apparently not googling correctly.)
January 6, 2010, 8:25 amSun Tzu's Nephew says:
Oh, it’s happened in the US – but the authorities generally use their own suitcases. I recall that one was lost for several days (containing real explosives but no detonators, and the explosives are quite stable) when they put the bag through the screening system and forgot to get it later.
January 6, 2010, 8:38 amShelbyC says:
Happened to a guy comming to the US from Amsterdam several years ago, too. He was detained for awhile until the Dutch folks fessed up. I’d google and find a link but the story’s buried this one.
Unfortunately this is almost a dog bites man story.
January 6, 2010, 9:01 amAnother Kevin says:
Does the law that forbids bring contraband on aircraft require a mens rea, or does it impose strict liability?
Oh, wait a moment, the question isn’t even relevant. I’m sure the passengers had to state at some point that they’d packed everything themselves, that they weren’t carrying anything for anyone else, and their bags had never left their direct control, so they’ve already admitted placing the explosives there. The people who were caught with the explosives deserve their arrest records and can account themselves fortunate that the authorities chose not to charge them. They already made a blanket admission of guilt.
January 6, 2010, 9:48 ampc says:
Napolitano should resign because of this.
January 6, 2010, 10:19 amCan't find a good name says:
Another Kevin: Actually, the questions about “did you pack everything yourself, etc.” were dropped from U.S. airport screening a while back. I doubt that the Irish or Slovaks are using those questions now, although I have no direct experience or actual knowledge about that.
Some comedian pointed out that most people who arrived at the airport by cab would have to answer, in order to be literally truthful, “Actually, after I packed my suitcase, I handed it to a man with a Middle Eastern accent whom I had never met before, and then I didn’t see the suitcase again for half an hour.”
January 6, 2010, 10:52 amSabba Hillel says:
Actually, if someone screens a bag, most people would not think to say that it had not been under their control during the time that the “screener” put the explosive into the bag. This could be a terrorist technique that can be used.
January 6, 2010, 10:52 amKenvee says:
What I really don’t get is this quote from Slovakian officials: “For an incomprehensible reason for us, they took the person into custody and undertook further security measures.”
Really? It’s incomprehensible that the authorities would take a person found carrying explosives onto an airplane into custody and undertake further security measures? REALLY? What the heck were they supposed to do, shrug and walk away? Not to mention that they wouldn’t have needed to do anything if the Slovakians had told them about what happened in the first place instead of waiting three days, or if they hadn’t snuck explosives into his suitcase at all.
January 6, 2010, 11:11 amChris Travers says:
It seems there must be more to the story:
WTF????
The whole goal was to see if the explosives would actually make it to Dublin, and then after that they would tell the passenger about this AFTER his arrival?
And I thought US airport security was often improperly managed….
January 6, 2010, 3:01 pmJaime non-Lawyer says:
Little wonder that dumb cop jokes are popular in Slovakia.
“Did you hear about the cops that drowned? The motor on their boat quit, so they got out and pushed.”
January 6, 2010, 4:16 pmjames says:
After getting your checked luggage scanned by security, the security people would put the bomb in the bag. Or the terrorist baggage handler would do the same thing before putting into the cargo hold. Or maybe that counter checkin lady who puts the tags on the bag after weighing it at checkin…
January 6, 2010, 5:12 pmreadery says:
Fortunately he returned from a country where authorities bother to ‘fess up when they make mistakes. Not all authorities find it in their interest to do so.
January 7, 2010, 6:59 pmLibrary: A Round-up of Reading « Res Communis says:
[...] Bad Ideas in Airport Security, Slovakian Edition – Volokh Conspiracy [...]
January 11, 2010, 12:59 pm