DHS tightens air cargo security procedures

DHS tightens air cargo security procedures    The failed attempt less than two weeks ago to smuggle improvised explosive devices onboard U.S.-bound cargo planes has led to new security measures in the United States and Europe.
   On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that a ban on air cargo from Yemen, implemented immediately after the bomb plot was discovered, will continue indefinitely and has been extended to all air cargo from Somalia. No cargo determined as high risk based on intelligence or profiling will be allowed on passenger aircraft. And toner and ink cartridges exceeding 16 ounces will be prohibited in carry-on and checked passenger bags on domestic and international inbound flights. The ban will also apply to certain inbound international air cargo shipments.
   The two bombs sent through the air cargo system in late October used a non-metallic chemical compound known as PETN hidden in the ink toner cartridge of a laser jet printer to escape detection.
   The DHS said all cargo identified as high risk will undergo additional and enhanced screening.
   In addition, international mail packages now must be screened individually and certified to have come from an established postal shipper. The measure essentially forces postal authorities to segregate packages based on whether they are a regular shipper with a known address so they can proceed in accordance with appropriate screening. Individuals who walk up to the counter will fall into the high-risk category and their shipments will not be allowed on passenger aircraft.
   DHS said it is working with foreign governments and the private sector on ways to expand technology and other detection systems.

Napolitano

   'The threats of terrorism we face are serious and evolving, and these security measures reflect our commitment to using current intelligence to stay ahead of adversaries — working closely with our international, federal, state, local and private sector partners every step of the way,' Napolitano said.
   Last week, the United Kingdom banned ink and ink toner cartridges weighing more than 17.5 ounces on any inbound or outbound flight for 30 days.
   The Yemen-based terror group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula on Friday claimed responsibility for sending the two bombs addressed to synagogues in the United States that were intercepted in Dubai and Britain. The makeshift bombs consisted of a chemical explosive wired to cell phone circuitry presumably to allow the bomb to be set off remotely. The group also said it was responsible for the crash of a UPS cargo plane in Dubai in September and threatened even more attacks on passenger and cargo planes, according to the Associated Press.
   Investigators in Dubai say they believe the UPS crash was an accident, not a terror attack, but they're not discounting the al-Qaida claim as they try to piece together what happened. Smoke and fire broke out in the cargo area of the Boeing 747-400 plane 25 minutes after takeoff and crashed before pilots could guide it back to the airport. The initial investigation indicated that lithium batteries on board may have ignited although no one could determine how. ABC News said it has learned there were packages from Yemen on board the flight, though they are not thought to have been in the same area where the fire began.
   U.S. officials are crediting a tip from Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency three weeks before the parcel bomb plot with helping avoid a potential air disaster, the AP reported. The Saudi tip did not mention of cargo planes nor details of the plot 10 days ago, but it raised the readiness to act when Saudi intelligence provided a more specific tip with actual parcel tracking numbers in late October.
   Concerns about the security of the air cargo industry were exacerbated last week when police discovered 14 letter bombs originating from Greece. The bombs were sent by suspected leftist guerrillas to various embassies in Athens as well as to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Greek police deactivated the bombs in controlled explosions. The bomb addressed to Merkel arrived in the mailroom of her Berlin office by air cargo but was deactivated before it could explode. It was disguised as a book delivery wrapped in brown paper and discovered during routine screening in the mailroom.
   The package was transported by UPS and was screened twice in transit from Athens, once at the Cologne-Bonn airport and again at Berlin. German investigators said the simple detonation device should have been easy to detect, German newspaper Der Spiegel said on its Web site.
   Greece has resumed outbound airmail deliveries after a two-day suspension.
   German officials reacted to the string of incidents by calling for the European Union to impose new security measures on air freight and help harmonize security standards across governments. Germany will push for the appointment of a working group to reassess air cargo security measures that would present its findings at the EU summit in December, according to Der Spiegel Online.
   Germany wants to take a leading role in tightening air freight security regulations because the country is a major hub for air cargo between the Middle East and the United States, the paper said. UPS, DHL, Lufthansa and other air cargo carriers operate large distribution centers at German airports.
   After the Yemen bomb plot was discovered, German authorities banned the weekly flight to Frankfurt by Yemeni airline Yemenia and froze all air cargo deliveries from Yemen, including those being transshipped for export. Germany is also considering making a blacklist banning cargo deliveries from other nations determined to be high risk, such as Pakistan or Somalia, or from nations where freight security controls are perceived as insufficient, Der Spiegel said. ' Eric Kulisch