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Terminal Mixup Implicates TSA Agents In LAX Smuggling Plot
First time accepted submitter ian_po writes "The U.S. Attorney's office has filed indictments against 7 people, including two Transportation Security Administration Screeners and two former TSA employees, after federal agents set up several smuggling sting operations. The alleged smuggling scheme was revealed after a suspected drug courier went to Terminal 5, where his flight was departing, instead of going through the Terminal 6 checkpoint his written instructions directed him to. Court documents indicate the plan was to return to Terminal 5 through a secure tunnel after being allowed through security by the accused Screener. The courier was caught with 10 pounds of cocaine at the other checkpoint by a different TSA agent. If convicted, the four TSA employees face a minimum of 10 years in Federal prison." If ten pounds of anything can get onto a plane by the simple expedient of bribery, please explain again why adult travelers, but not children, must remove their shoes as they stand massed in an unsecured part of a typical U.S. airport.
As always, the weakest link in anything security related are humans. This begs the question of whether we really need the TSA
The government assumes as usual that terrorists don't have money... why would they they only live in tents with sand all around.
They get the same kind of inhuman treatment.
http://boingboing.net/2012/04/25/tsa-agents-bully-7-year-old-wi.html
EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
Clearly this indicates that travelers should be tipping their screeners more, and more often.
Really, how is one meant to sell cancer causing X-ray scanners if the public realizes that the costly scanners can't stop well funded people from bribing severely underfunded people.
Who would have thought?!?!
Seriously, though, as someone that proctored the TSA tests for years, believe me, I'm not surprised at all. Half the people I sat for the tests seemed to be under the influence of some type of narcotics, not to mention the gang tattoos and shit.
The test itself was stellar, too, asking hard hitting questions like "Have you ever lived in a house you thought was haunted?" I wish I could say I was kidding, but I'm not.
Remember this next time they've got their hand in your 8 year old's waistband....
If ten pounds of anything can get onto a plane by the simple expedient of bribery, please explain again why adult travelers, but not children, must remove their shoes as they stand massed in an unsecured part of a typical U.S. aiport.
Because the TSA isn't about security, it is about making people feel secure. Well, that and wasting billions of federal dollars on "security" equipment manufactured by private companies run by buddies of TSA directors and/or former TSA directors. I'm not actually sure which one is their main goal, right now.
Kudos to the Terminal 6 guy for actually noticing the 10 pounds of cocaine. I would not want to be a TSA agent who got thrown into Federal prison. That does not sound fun, at all.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
So why would the TSA give a shit?
Oh yeah, they'll never actually catch or stop an actual terrorist so using their fourth amendment exemption to search for things that aren't security risks is all they can actually do.
Those poor TSA agents thought that it was the CIA's cocaine they were waving through. They were just doing their jobs.
If it's possible to move ten pounds of cocaine through an airport, it's just as possible to move ten pounds of explosives. Hell, the TSA agents don't even need to know it's a bomb. If they think it's just drugs they probably won't care. Terrorists don't even need to get a bomb on a plane. They'd do far more damage setting it off in the airport, probably killing a larger number of people and likely resulting in air travel being grounded around the country for a few days while the powers that be try to figure out what happened and whether other airports are at risk.
Really, the only way to make it stop is to completely leave the Middle East alone, in which case they'll probably go bother someone else or each other. The only other alternative is to make sure they know that if they bomb our airports, we'll hit them back with one hundred times as much force and an equal disregard for human life. Either way, the TSA becomes completely pointless.
If ten pounds of anything ....
It does not relate to the subject. It is vague, specious, and kind of -1ish.
I'd like to think that since these people were in positions of power regarding 'Homeland Security', TSA agents after all, are supposed to be there to stop threats right, that such a violation of public trust and authority would warrant them much harsher penalties than some common bloke caught smuggling dope. Sadly I know this not to be true.
I've always thought that Federal employees, be it lowly TSA employees, postal workers right up to Supreme Court Justices, should be held to a much harsher judicial standard than your every day citizen, or local and state public servant. Why? Because the amount of power within the system that is retained by those positions, makes the violations of it that much more severe because they breaking the public trust.
In short, if the system is rotten from within, kinda hard to support in it theory, much less in practice.
Indeed. That *is* the secure tunnel. "Secure", in this case, refers to the terminal after you pass thru screening
That little of a bribe is required! That is horrible, the "accused" agent met the smuggler to get the second payment of $600. Why would a terrorist not just see that as part of the costs of doing whatever plot they have planned. I'm sure they could easily scrounge up that much money, just call the whichever explosive cocaine and they'll be fine. Ugh.
Will the prison be more secure than the airport? :o
Their may be a grammatical error, misspeling, or evn a typo in this post.
From the article:
OK, the people who took bribes to let this stuff get through deserve to be prosecuted, but can we please stop appealing to so-called "national security"?
I wonder if the previous story about the 4 year old was actually TSA attempting to "recruit" another drug running mule.
Several decades ago a popular author of thrillers said something along the lines of "the best way to smuggle a nuclear bomb into the USA is to disguise it as drugs and bring it in through the Miami airport".
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
... an airplane how? Is the terrorist going to threaten to force everyone to snort it?
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Because they can tell that a 10 pound package contains 10 pounds of cocaine and not 10 pounds of explosives with their magical ESP powers?
Or that there's not a knife or gun hidden in the center of that cocaine like substance?
Or, god forbid, a bottle of water hidden inside?
I'd also wager that said screener was bribed t let the smuggler through with a 10 lb brick of whatever the heck he was carrying. I don't think the screener pulled out the DEA drug test kit to make sure that was a block of coke and not a block of say, semtex. It's probably also fair to assume that this wasn't the first time he's done this, this is just the first time getting caught at it. After the first few, the screener that was getting used to the quick cash probably was paying a lot less attention to what the courier was carrying.
The only reason it got caught this time is the smuggler screwed up. That indicates there's a fundamental flaw in the system. But it doesn't really matter, nobody that can fix it is listening to anything we have to say.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
[Y]our average PD or Sheriff's department are ... orders of magnitude more competent and professional than our petty airport dictators.
And that's saying something.
You're assuming that the TSA agents are checking to make sure that's 10 pounds of cocaine and not 10 pounds of semtex. If they know there's drugs there that are supposed to be waved through I imagine they'd try to minimize the exposure of those drugs.
"I'll give you $2,400 to let me bring this bomb ... I mean, these drugs through your checkpoint.
<xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
Its possible that finally congress will take a hard look at the TSA.
I'm annoyed by the TSA as much as the next guy, but it's their job to screen people and baggage for threats to aircraft (snow globes, nail clippers, pasta sauce, hand grenades etc.). Since when is it their job to detect drugs? That's the job of the police, not the TSA. Cocaine and meth are not threats to aircraft.
Those humans are letting smugglers through ... but they haven't caught a single terrorist yet.
I'd say that almost all of the "additional security" since the WTC attack is only "security theatre". Aside from the improved flight deck doors and increased passenger involvement.
Get rid of the TSA.
I've always thought this is one of the biggest holes in the entire system -- all a terrorist has to do is bribe one of the thousands of screeners (or a few of them) in some small airport anywhere in the country, and the terrorist can fly his 10 pound bomb to JFK or any other large airport.
The screener will think he's getting paid $25,000 in cash to smuggle in some drugs, he doesn't even have to know it's a bomb.
They probably knew the person. He didn't show up and start throwing 2400 dollars around.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
If ten pounds of anything can get onto a plane by the simple expedient of bribery, please explain again why adult travelers, but not children, must remove their shoes as they stand massed in an unsecured part of a typical U.S. aiport.
you're misinformed:
/.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/tsa-under-fire-mistreatment-7-old-girl-cerebral-164507761.html
and this from earlier today on
http://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/04/26/0352242/tsa-defends-pat-down-of-4-year-old-girl
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
How can a 4yr girl of average height & weight (36 pounds = 16.3293253 Kg) /. earlier report today about groping a 4yr old; add McCarthy
could walk with 10 pounds of anything, a third of her weight, and be a threat
before she fall over is sure proof that America's TSA are zealots without a
clue. Reference
"witch hunts", and Spanish Inquisition (sans pillows). There are bad people
in the world, even more zealots with good intentions, but without wisdom
and temperance.
How could it be a terminal mixup if no one died?
Since the TSA was founded, more TSA agents have been convicted of felonies than air travelers have.
Strictly by the numbers, the TSA should be disbanded.
The Israelis have a very effective system based on profiling.
The Russians have a very effective system based on killing every hijacker and doing the reverse of what they request.
Yeah, I'm personal friends with this cocaine dealer, I know he's an upstanding, incorruptible guy. No way would he try to sneak explosive onboard a plane. I'd trust this dude with my life.
</sarcasm>
You're assuming that the TSA agents are checking to make sure that's 10 pounds of cocaine and not 10 pounds of semtex.
How about ten pounds of weaponized Anthrax?
That's enough to kill several hundred thousand people, maybe even a million or more, depending.
There's a video I saw somewhere where a radical Islamic cleric is talking about smuggling Anthrax across the Mexican border by paying Mexican drug cartels and coyotes, where he mentioned that a few pounds could kill 300,000 Americans.
Sleep well, fellow citizens! The high level of security at the southern border combined with thorough TSA security at our airports, train, and bus stations means there is almost no danger whatsoever.
These security-theater idiots in the DHS and TSA remind me of the steward trying to control & calm the fleeing passengers abandoning the luxury starship in the movie "The Fifth Element" that starred Bruce Willis, screaming at the top of his voice "REMAIN CALM!! as the computer voice counts down to the big KABOOM! The last shot showing the steward showed him flat as a pancake on the deck, having been trampled flat.
We're doomed, aren't we?
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
So. They runner probably got the drugs from a drug cartel. Who is to say that a drug cartel wouldn't be willing to smuggle some explosives into a plane if paid they were paid well. The runner wouldn't even have to know he wasn't smuggling the usual goods.
We'd have to squeeze any uprising in between the NCAA Final Four and baseball spring training. Too late for this year.
Have gnu, will travel.
as they stand massed in an unsecured part of a typical U.S. aiport.
And that is the biggest, most glaring, elephant-in-the-living-room hole in U.S. airport security. The last time I had the misfortune to go through Chicago O'Hare airport, there must have been 300 people packed into an area the size of a basketball court, all waiting to go through the TSA checkpoint. Never mind a nail bomb, the place was so packed that if someone had dropped a lit road flare, the panic and stampede would have caused casualties.
Not that I'm advocating dropping lit road flares in check-in lines, but if I can think of it, I'm sure someone else can.
Because the "simple expedient of bribery" is WAY more risky than simply putting something in your pocket and getting on a plane with it. I'm not saying that TSA isn't a runaway agency that's gone way beyond their intended mandate. But there's huge risk in attempting to bribe someone, and further risk in the event that things don't go as planned...as this slashdot post points out.
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
Can we just disband that worthless fucking agency already? Any terrorist organization that has the funds to get a dozen people into the country, with fake IDs, and pay them into flight school, probably has a couple grand left over to pay off the high-school dropouts charged with keeping 'Merca safe. It is
Not
Fucking
Working.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
And those magic ESP powers means he knows that the other person (who has taken up smuggling cocaine as a hobby/job) is perfectly trustworthy and incorruptible
And isn't just carrying a package for someone else without actually confirming what is inside..
You know how when you fly to a different country, they ask you all those questions about the purpose of your trip, ask if you have anything to declare, etc.? I think we need to put together a list of questions to ask them.
Do you plan to... ... molest my frightened, preschool-aged child? ... humiliate my elderly relative with a medical condition? ... steal anything out of my luggage? ... profit from my inconvenience? ... be remiss in your duties? ... let someone smuggle illegal and/or unsafe materials onto the plane?
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Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Ted Kennedy (the US Senator, now deceased) was stopped trying to board a plane in 2004 because his name was on a terror watch list.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-08-19-kennedy-list_x.htm
He was rich and powerful. Of course that was 8 years ago and perhaps TSA changed their policies since then to no longer search the rich and powerful. I don't have any more recent examples.
Legalizing drugs means that nobody will be bribed to look the other way while drugs are being moved. Which removes a huge source of corruption within government, including law enforcement. Which prevents them from conditioned to accepting bribes, such that when a terrorist tries to bribe them they are more likely to turn him in than accept the bribe.
I live in Germany with my family and just recently read about the little 4 yr. old girl and her pat-down from the TSA. I turned around and started explaining the story to my wife when my son interrupted and asked what we were talking about and what is going on with this 4 yr. old girl.
So. What is one to do? How do you explain the depths of stupidity needed to start and fund the TSA to an 8 yr. old without him losing faith in adults? I tried. I really did. However, I only got as far as explaining that the TSA had searched the girl because she MAY have had a weapon the she got from hugging a family member while waiting to get on the plane.
Well, we all know how children are. "They say the darnedest things". This was a complete exception to the rule. He looked at me with this look on his face like he had just found out that people actually eat rancid shark meat and says "wie hirnlos". A literal translation being "How brainless". Took me really be surprise that he connected the dots that fast and came to the conclusion that the TSA needs to go.
An 8 year old boy that was born and raised and lives in Germany can look at the situation and see what needs to be done and a large portion of the adult population in the nation cannot. Sad state of affairs to say the least.
IT Admins Group: Where you decide the content
They probably knew the person. He didn't show up and start throwing 2400 dollars around.
Then, if they're there chummy with a would be drug smuggler and willing to look the other way for $2400, what on *earth* were they doing working for the TSA?!
That's just the sort of association any background check worth its salt is there to catch.
Stefan Axelsson
When TSA employees want to smuggle drugs their co-workers create a distraction by frisking a 4 year old.
8. Randomisation is important and is for everyone. Even if you're a politician (which supports your point 6) or airport staff.
9. Transparency and accountability are a MUST. Any organisation which absorbs gazillions of tax dollars should be held accountable for every dollar spent, and should be easy to audit, even if the results have to be delayed by a year to prevent harm to operational security. "National security" should NEVER be a cop-out for accountability.
Having said that, where do you find "sensible people"? All recruitment is now either done via tick box recruiters (who do not know the business) or via outsourcing (which adds simply a layer between the need and the aforementioned braindamaged recruitment process..
Insert
..come to think of it why didnt the guy just take a bus?
I know the focus of this story is on how shitty the TSA is, but may I just point out that, thank god this smuggler didn't get the goods on board? Why, the whole plane might have exploded or crashed into a populated area with this dangerous explosive compound...excuse me for a moment. What's that? It wasn't dangerous material? Then what was...oh.
Never mind.
Why, Johnny, it's to make them all look like dick-heads. Isn't that obvious. It's the entertainment part of "security theatre", and you're the entertainment.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Also, not mentioned in the article, he didn't wrap the ten pounds of cocaine in marijuana leaves as his written instructions directed him to.
Someone please explain how the safety of the aircraft was in jeopardy?
No, I'm not arguing for more drug trafficking, but the duties of the TSA should be limited to insuring safety. Full Stop. Even if they discovered a terabyte of child porn, $100,000 cash, 1kg of cocaine, and a box of Cuban cigars in my bag, as long as there is nothing to cause harm to the aircraft or the other passengers the proper response should be "Thank you sir, have a nice flight."