Suspicious Package at Miami Airport and Gun in Girl’s Purse in Denver

The first week of this month highlights the ongoing airport security incidents that can often close terminals and lead to arrests. The discovery of a suspicious package at Miami International Airport September 2, brought out a bomb squad and forced the evacuation and closing of four terminals for about 7 hours. Tests eventually showed that the passenger, the suspicious metal canister in his luggage, and his other belonging did not contain any hazardous biological material or explosives. But a senior law enforcement official indicated that the passenger who was detained in the incident, was a scientist who had once been charged with illegally transporting bubonic plague. He was acquitted of the charges of transporting the potentially deadly germ in 2003. The scientist cooperated fully September 2 after he arrived on a flight from the Middle East, said the official, who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information. Most of Miami International was shut down after a Transportation Security Administration officer found what appeared to be a pipe bomb in the scientist’s luggage.

A man and his daughter both face charges after she had a gun in her purse when she tried to get through security at Denver International Airport (DIA) in Colorado. Investigators said a 44-year-old man gave his daughter, a juvenile, a .22 caliber handgun for self protection. She forgot the loaded gun was in her purse and the Transportation Security Administration found it when she went through security at DIA. The two, who live in Aurora, were going to take a Delta Airlines flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. The handgun had four live rounds inside, according to police. He is charged with unlawfully providing or permitting a juvenile to possess a handgun and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. His daughter was charged with possession of a handgun by a juvenile. The man was released on $10,000 bond and will appear in court September 17. He was previously charged with having a handgun at DIA in 2005, but he was acquitted in 2007.

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