Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Obama's TSA screeners let drug-filled luggage through LAX for cash
1 view
Skip to first unread message
Hector Macias
Apr 30, 2012, 2:09:11 AM4/30/12
to
Four current and former Transportation Security Administration
screeners have been arrested and face charges of taking bribes
and looking the other way while suitcases filled with cocaine,
methamphetamine or marijuana passed through X-ray machines at
Los Angeles International Airport, federal authorities announced
Wednesday.
The TSA screeners, who were arrested Tuesday night and Wednesday
morning, allegedly received up to $2,400 in cash bribes in
exchange for allowing large drug shipments to pass through
checkpoints in what the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles called a
“significant breakdown” of security.
In addition to the two current and two former screeners,
prosecutors also indicted two alleged drug couriers and a third
who allegedly tried to smuggle 11 pounds of cocaine but was
nabbed when he went through the wrong security checkpoint.
The TSA employees “placed greed above the nation’s security
needs,” Andre Birotte Jr., U.S. attorney for the Central
District of California, said in a statement.
The 40-page indictment outlines five alleged smuggling incidents
over a six-month period last year. In one incident, screeners
schemed to allow for about eight pounds of methamphetamine to
pass through security, then went to an airport restroom where he
was handed $600, the second half of the payment for that
delivery, according to prosecutors.
Briane Grey, acting special agent in charge of the DEA in Los
Angeles, said the scheme was particularly reprehensible because
it took place at LAX.
“The defendants traded on their positions at one the world’s
most crucial airport security checkpoints, used their special
access for criminal ends, and compromised the safety and
security of their fellow citizens for their own profit,” he said
in a statement.
The indicted screeners are Naral Richardson, 30, and Joy White,
27, who were both fired by TSA last year; and John Whitfield,
23, and Capeline McKinney, 25, both currently employed as
screeners. All four have been taken into custody, and face up to
life in prison if convicted.
The accused drug couriers are Duane Eleby, 28, who is expected
to surrender, and Terry Cunningham and Stephen Bayliss, both 28,
who are both at large.
The TSA’s security director at LAX said the agency was assisting
with the investigation. “While these arrests are a
disappointment, TSA is committed to holding our employees to the
highest standards,” Randy Parsons said in a statement.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/tsa-screeners-drug-
arrest.html
screeners have been arrested and face charges of taking bribes
and looking the other way while suitcases filled with cocaine,
methamphetamine or marijuana passed through X-ray machines at
Los Angeles International Airport, federal authorities announced
Wednesday.
The TSA screeners, who were arrested Tuesday night and Wednesday
morning, allegedly received up to $2,400 in cash bribes in
exchange for allowing large drug shipments to pass through
checkpoints in what the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles called a
“significant breakdown” of security.
In addition to the two current and two former screeners,
prosecutors also indicted two alleged drug couriers and a third
who allegedly tried to smuggle 11 pounds of cocaine but was
nabbed when he went through the wrong security checkpoint.
The TSA employees “placed greed above the nation’s security
needs,” Andre Birotte Jr., U.S. attorney for the Central
District of California, said in a statement.
The 40-page indictment outlines five alleged smuggling incidents
over a six-month period last year. In one incident, screeners
schemed to allow for about eight pounds of methamphetamine to
pass through security, then went to an airport restroom where he
was handed $600, the second half of the payment for that
delivery, according to prosecutors.
Briane Grey, acting special agent in charge of the DEA in Los
Angeles, said the scheme was particularly reprehensible because
it took place at LAX.
“The defendants traded on their positions at one the world’s
most crucial airport security checkpoints, used their special
access for criminal ends, and compromised the safety and
security of their fellow citizens for their own profit,” he said
in a statement.
The indicted screeners are Naral Richardson, 30, and Joy White,
27, who were both fired by TSA last year; and John Whitfield,
23, and Capeline McKinney, 25, both currently employed as
screeners. All four have been taken into custody, and face up to
life in prison if convicted.
The accused drug couriers are Duane Eleby, 28, who is expected
to surrender, and Terry Cunningham and Stephen Bayliss, both 28,
who are both at large.
The TSA’s security director at LAX said the agency was assisting
with the investigation. “While these arrests are a
disappointment, TSA is committed to holding our employees to the
highest standards,” Randy Parsons said in a statement.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/tsa-screeners-drug-
arrest.html
0 new messages