Senior counterterrorism officials warned on Sunday that al-Qaeda has exposed a blind spot in international aviation security by successfully smuggling bombs onto commercial cargo planes bound for the US.
One official told the Guardian that the bomb inside a computer printer discovered at East Midlands Airport in England on Friday, en route from Yemen to Chicago, was “one of the most sophisticated we’ve seen ... The naked eye won’t pick it up, experienced bomb officers did not see it, x-ray screening is highly unlikely to catch it.”
Saudi Arabian intelligence was tipped off by an informant leading to the discovery of the devices at East Midlands Airport and Dubai International Airport. A special team of secret service officers from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, which works closely with the London Metropolitan Police Service’s counterterrorism branch, was activated as soon as the Saudi Arabian authorities tipped off US and UK intelligence agencies.
British Home Secretary Theresa May said on Sunday the devices could have exploded over the UK or the US, as it emerged that the bomb found in the UK was first missed by investigators and was only picked up during a second check.
“The package was examined and declared safe,” a Metropolitan police spokesman said. “It was subsequently re-examined as a precaution.”
In a further development that added to concern over the ease with which the explosive material used in the devices — Pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN — can be passed through all kinds of airport security, Qatar Airways said the bomb found in Dubai had traveled on two separate passenger aircraft without being picked up.
The airline said the devices could not be picked up by x-ray screening or sniffer dogs.
“There is no way of picking out PETN,” the British counterterrorism official said. “It is a continued vulnerability.”
The bombs were “sophisticated and very well-disguised,” another well-placed official said.
May announced a review of air cargo security despite aviation industry calls for restraint because of fears that tougher rules could have a major economic impact.
“We will be talking to the industry about those measures,” she said. “We are well aware of the economic aspects of freight travel.”
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