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SALT LAKE CITY -- TSA agents in Salt Lake remain tight-lipped on what effect, if any, suspicious packages discovered Friday aboard two airplanes bound for the United States is having locally. They do say they are monitoring the situation.
Related:
Packages from Yemen probed as possible terror plot
Authorities on three continents are investigating whether suspicious packages shipped from Yemen to Chicago religious sites are part of a terrorist plot.Airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann said, "Nothing has changed but it is being tracked."
Local TSA officials confirm there have been no direct threats to Salt Lake International Airport.
A suspicious package containing a toner cartridge with wires and powder was found during routine screening of cargo in the United Kingdom, prompting authorities to scour three planes and a truck in the United States on Friday.
Searches were conducted in Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and New York City, but no explosives were found. All the packages believed to be suspicious came from Yemen and were being sent to the Chicago area via UPS.
Local terrorism experts say this incident is a wake-up call. "It reinforces to the public that this is a real and viable and immediate threat," said University of Utah law professor Amos Guiora.
He says it's also a reminder that cargo planes, trucks and even ships can be used as weapons.
"One would hope that the cargo is efficiently checked, whatever that means," Guiora said.
Passenger flights and cargo flights are closely tied together. More than 6 billion pounds of cargo is shipped annually. About 25 percent of that is actually shipped on passenger planes.
It reinforces to the public that this is a real and viable and immediate threat.
–Amos Guiora
According to the TSA website, 100 percent of cargo shipped on passenger planes through low-volume airports undergoes electronic screening. At larger airports, air cargo is screened in a layered approach utilizing electronic screening, canines and on-site TSA inspectors. But the site states it would be impossible to physically inspect everything.
Locally, TSA officials would not comment on the process, but airport officials say the Salt Lake International is not a hugely-active area for international carriers like UPS. Only 80 UPS flights a month, or a couple per day, pass through the airport. The planes load and unload in hangars away from the passenger terminals.
52,000 tons of cargo is shipped daily throughout the United States. -TSA
A former FEMA official with experience at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Tom Panuzio, told KSL initially he wondered if this was a test run for terrorists, perhaps to see how law enforcement would react -- but his opinion is changing.
"All the evidence that's come in, in the past couple of hours seems to point that this was not a test; this was the real thing," he said.
Panuzio believes the timing -- coming up on the busiest travel season of the year -- is no coincidence. He expects to see extremely heightened security at airports during the holidays and says travelers should prepare accordingly.
In fact, the Department of Homeland Security has ordered heightened security at all airports in the country.
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Story compiled with contributions from Mary Richards, Andrew Adams, Sarah Dallof, Sam Penrod and The Associated Press.
