Wake up TSA!

[Todd 1]

ABC News Exclusive: Two Men on United Flight from Chicago Arrested on 'Preparation of a Terrorist Attack' in Amsterdam

Suspects Had Been Cleared Sunday by TSA in Chicago, Birmingham Despite Security Concerns

By RICHARD ESPOSITO, CHRISTINE BROUWER and BRIAN ROSS
Aug. 30, 2010

Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands have been charged by Dutch police with "preparation of a terrorist attack," U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News.

U.S. officials said the two appeared to be travelling with what were termed "mock bombs" in their luggage. "This was almost certainly a dry run, a test," said one senior law enforcement official.
A spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor, Ernst Koelman, confirmed the two men were arrested this morning and said "the investigation is ongoing." He said the arrests were made "at the request of American authorities."
The two were allowed to board the flight at O'Hare airport last night despite security concerns surrounding one of them, the officials said.
The men were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, of Detroit, MI, and Hezem al Murisi, the officials said. A neighbor of al Soofi told ABC News he is from Yemen.
Airport security screeners in Birmingham, Alabama first stopped al Soofi and referred him to additional screening because of what officials said was his "bulky clothing."

In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare.

Once in Chicago, officials say they learned al Soofi checked his luggage on a flight to Washington's Dulles airport for connections on flights to Dubai and then Yemen, even though he did not board the flight himself.

Instead, officials say, al Soofi was joined by the second man, Al Murisi, and boarded the United flight from Chicago to Amsterdam.

When Customs and Border officials learned al Soofi was not on the flight from Dulles to Dubai, the plane was ordered to return to the gate so his luggage could be removed. Officials said additional screening found no evidence of explosives.

The two men were detained by Dutch authorities when the United flight landed in Amsterdam, according to the officials

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/united...ry?id=11517664


How in the hell did he and his luggage get on that plane, not only did he make it past initial screening but additional screening as well. WTF

[Streck-Fu]

In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare.

This is a joke, right?

[Utah Bob]

Originally Posted by Streck-Fu

This is a joke, right?

Alas, no.
TSA is the joke.

[lindy]

Perhaps the "system" worked: the men were identified, bags examined, authorities in Holland notified, and they were allowed to continue. Who did they meet in Amsterdam (if that was their final destination)? Whom did they contact after arrival? ("Hey Abu, I made it.")

Al-Sufi, a Yemeni. Interesting.

I wonder what El Al would do?

[Oldrotorhead]

Originally Posted by Utah Bob

Alas, no.
TSA is the joke.

One more joke in a long list of jokes. Maybe they need to search grandma and that fake bomb put them behind schedule.

[Green Light]

Originally Posted by Oldrotorhead

One more joke in a long list of jokes. Maybe they need to search grandma and that fake bomb put them behind schedule.

Just ruminating here . . .

They were stopped because they had "bulky clothing". That worked

They checked their bags and determined that the items were inert. That worked

Do you think that maybe the L3 machine alarmed for the cell phones that were taped together? Betcha it did. That worked

Do you think that the intelligence community would have done an assessment on these guys BEFORE the plane took off? Probably. That worked

Do you think that the Netherlands authorities were waiting for them? Yep. That worked

Knives, watches, and box cutters are not prohibited items in checked baggage.

You've got no experience in transport security, you don't know how the system works, you're not an intelligence guy, and you surely didn't read the article very well. Now if those people would have been going the other way, from AMS to ORD, then we might have had a different outcome like last Christmas (that was the Dutch police that blew that search).

BTW, that first fabled "grandma" . . . It ocurred at the Frostbite Falls, Mn airport in 2002. http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/granny.asp

There was another one that I was involved with about 2005/2006. But she had a pistol under her while she was sitting in her wheel chair.

[Saoirse]

I think they have improved considerably since 9/11. The first time I flew after 9/11 was about a month later from JFK to MSP. I got thru TSA security with:
1. all my jewelry making tools (including awls, large needles, several scissors, pliers, etc)
2. hairspray
3. zippo lighter
4. buck knife
ALL in my carry on. WHY? Cuz the two girls monitoring the machine were too busy talking about the "m____f__er" that ditched the one girl and the other girl complained about her weave. I reported MYSELF to an Air Marshall before I got on the plane....HE pulled those two "oxygen thieves" off the line and had their supervisor and his supervisor called in. It was a mess.

Now...now I just skate thru security with lithium batteries in their charger in my carry on....that thing has made it thru 4 times so far, in a bag with numerous wires i.e. powercords and the such for my "office on wheels". They never check my bags, just wipe my shoes. LOL tsk tsk

[Richard]

And so it goes...

Richard

AP source: Unlikely That 2 Men Plotting Terror

The FBI probe of two men arrested in Amsterdam after suspicious items turned up in one of the men's luggage is finding they were probably not on a test run for a future terror attack, a U.S. official said Tuesday, casting doubt on earlier suggestions even as Dutch authorities held the pair on suspicion of conspiring to commit a terrorist act.

The U.S. does not expect to charge the men, a law enforcement official said. The two men arrested in Amsterdam — both traveling to Yemen — did not know each other and were not traveling together, a U.S. government official said.

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.

The Amsterdam arrests came at a time of heightened alert less than two weeks before the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Before officials began casting doubt on the test run theory, FBI agents were chasing down leads in Detroit, Birmingham, Ala.; and Memphis, Tenn., a law enforcement official said.

Earlier, U.S. officials said they were investigating whether the two men had been conducting a dry run for a potential terrorist attack. But as the probe evolved, officials said that appeared unlikely.

Both of the detained men missed flights to Dulles International Airport from Chicago, and United Airlines then booked them on the same flight to Amsterdam, the U.S. government official said. The men were sitting near each other on the flight, but not together.

The men were not on any U.S. terror watch lists, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told CNN Tuesday.

When Customs officials discovered one passenger was not on the flight from Dulles to Dubai, they called the plane back to the gate and removed his luggage. It was then they discovered suspicious items in his bag, a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, multiple cell phones and watches taped together, and a knife and box cutter, according to another U.S. official who had been briefed on the investigation.

Kip Hawley, the former Transportation Security administrator, said it is not unusual to find items like watches and cell phones bound together on flights to countries like Yemen. He said this would always catch the screener's eye. In 2007, TSA alerted screeners that suspicious items found at U.S. airports may indicate that terrorists were conducting dry runs. Screeners are deliberately on the lookout for such items.

None of the items found on the men or in their luggage violated U.S. security rules. But the items and the men's changing travel itinerary raised concern that it may have been a deliberate test of the U.S. aviation security system to determine what would raise red flags.

A U.S. official identified the men as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi and Hezam al Murisi. Al Soofi had a Detroit address. Alabama's director of homeland security, Jim Walker, said he had been living in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and working at a convenience store for about the last three months. He said there was nothing that al Soofi had done in Alabama that brought him to the attention of Alabama officials.

Al Soofi was questioned by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration as he went through security in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday on his way to Chicago, one of the officials said. He told the 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. It is not unusual for people to carry large amounts of cash when they travel to Third World countries.

Al Soofi was supposed to fly from Chicago to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and then on to Dubai, one of the officials said. But when he got to Chicago, he changed his travel plans to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, while his luggage went on to Virginia.

On international flights, passengers and their luggage must be headed toward the same destination, according to U.S. policy.

Al Murisi also changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among U.S. officials. Federal Air marshals were on the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, a law enforcement official said.

The men were arrested Monday morning at Schiphol Airport after getting off a United Airlines flight from Chicago. No charges have been filed against the men in the U.S., a law enforcement official said.

A Dutch prosecutor Tuesday did not address why the two men continued to be held even as U.S. officials cast doubt on the case.

"We are taking it seriously. Otherwise we would not have arrested them," Theo D'Anjou of the Dutch national prosecutor's office said. Anjou added that the Dutch investigation was under way "to see whether we can charge them, and if we can charge them, with what."

Under Dutch law, they can be held for three days and 15 hours from the time of their arrest. After that period, they must be taken before an investigating judge if officials want their custody extended.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as President Barack Obama flew to Fort Bliss in Texas, Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton said Obama has been briefed on the investigation into the suspicious luggage.

"Everyone in government was impressed with the amount of information-sharing that happened with some of our partners overseas, and the speed with which we were able to run incidents to the ground," Burton said. "We're still gathering facts."

Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said once officials found suspicious items in luggage associated with two passengers on Sunday night's flight, they notified the Dutch authorities.

Security at Amsterdam's main airport has been boosted this year, after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian student, flew from Schiphol airport to Detroit on Christmas Day with explosives in his underwear. Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to detonate the explosives over the United States before being grabbed by passengers and crew.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100831/...icious_luggage

[AngelsSix]

Changing tunes, already? Someone rolled over and gave up some info....terrorists are pussies these days....or perhaps it is part of the plan to distract us from the real plot.

[Oldrotorhead]

Originally Posted by Green Light

Just ruminating here . . .

They were stopped because they had "bulky clothing". That worked

They checked their bags and determined that the items were inert. That worked

Do you think that maybe the L3 machine alarmed for the cell phones that were taped together? Betcha it did. That worked

Do you think that the intelligence community would have done an assessment on these guys BEFORE the plane took off? Probably. That worked

Do you think that the Netherlands authorities were waiting for them? Yep. That worked

Knives, watches, and box cutters are not prohibited items in checked baggage.

You've got no experience in transport security, you don't know how the system works, you're not an intelligence guy, and you surely didn't read the article very well. Now if those people would have been going the other way, from AMS to ORD, then we might have had a different outcome like last Christmas (that was the Dutch police that blew that search).

BTW, that first fabled "grandma" . . . It ocurred at the Frostbite Falls, Mn airport in 2002. http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/granny.asp

There was another one that I was involved with about 2005/2006. But she had a pistol under her while she was sitting in her wheel chair.

I stand corrected.

[Utah Bob]

Everything's fine. Move along. Nothing to see here.

I always tape a cell phone to a bottle in my checked luggage. Doesn't everybody?

[ZonieDiver]

Originally Posted by Utah Bob

Everything's fine. Move along. Nothing to see here.

I always tape a cell phone to a bottle in my checked luggage. Doesn't everybody?

Not anymore!

[Richard]

Anybody eat airline food lately? A Pepto-Bismol bomb could come in handy!

Richard

[T-Rock]

AP's take:

...did not know each other and were not traveling together...

And the reality from Detroitistan:

Both of the detained men are friends who lived and worked in Dearborn, said Imad Hamad of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. The al Soofi and al Murisi families are prominent within the Yemeni-American community in Dearborn, Hamad said.
Both men worked at area restaurants and grocery stores, and it is typical to spend several months working in Michigan and travel home once or twice a year to visit relatives in Yemen.
"When the news broke, people were surprised because they knew them as good people, respected people who always worked and worked hard," Hamad said.
Al Soofi was believed to have recently lived at the Hidden Trail Apartments in Monroe.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100...in-terror-plot

And the kicker

One of al Soofi's cousins, who did not give his name, told WXYZ that Soofi had recently moved from Monroe, Mich., to Alabama.

"He's a great guy," the man said at his Southwest Detroit home, adding that it wasn't unusual for al Soofi to tape things together when he travels. "It's a misunderstanding. He doesn't know how to speak English, type in a computer or use e-mails or whatever."

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in..._question.html

Gotta love the Jawa Report
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/203762.php