Explosive material found in packages on US bound planes from Britain and the UAE

[Kevin23]

Explosive material has been found in suspicious packages on planes heading to the US from East Midlands in the UK and Dubai the UAE, with organizing locations in Yemen. Authorities are suspecting that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula maybe behind the incident. Although it appears to early to piece together the meaning of this new plot.


Link to the news story from CNN with comments from President Obama earlier in the afternoon.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/29/sec...pt=T1&iref=BN1

[davidbfpo]

The UK story on the intercepted packages, from the Yemen, at UPS hubs in Dubai and East Midlands:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ynagogues.html

The BBC:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11654390

[subrosa]

so does anyone know if this would have exploded if not intercepted?

embargoing or meticulously checking mail from terrorist hotspots is just a short term solution. the real issue is that packages can be mailed from anywhere to anywhere under any name within the U.S. - you do not need to show ID to send a package. that is an open threat, whether UPS/FEDEX or US postal system etc. and if you mail a package using surface mail vs airmail - then it goes straight from the shipping center on a truck to destination. so where is there any security check? specially on a really local level like manhattan to manhattan? hopefully this will change starting today. seriously.

[Kevin23]

so does anyone know if this would have exploded if not intercepted?

embargoing or meticulously checking mail from terrorist hotspots is just a short term solution. the real issue is that packages can be mailed from anywhere to anywhere under any name within the U.S. - you do not need to show ID to send a package. that is an open threat, whether UPS/FEDEX or US postal system etc. and if you mail a package using surface mail vs airmail - then it goes straight from the shipping center on a truck to destination. so where is there any security check? specially on a really local level like manhattan to manhattan? hopefully this will change starting today. seriously.

From what I heard on the news earlier, authorities in the UK are still trying to determine how the devices work etc. However, apparently at least one of the packages was bound for a synagogue in Chicago IL, and rumor has it another one may have been on it's way to a Jewish cultural center somewhere within the US.

[davidbfpo]

Some comments having looked at the UK coverage:

a) why have photos of the device(s) been placed now in the public domain?
b) the use of PETN
c) the apparent decoy device which was so obvious a search was ordered at East Midlands hub and which found the primary device
d) the apparent lack of screening all packages from Yemen
e) the potential commercial impact on air freight
f) locating the expert designer (the body bomb, the underwear and now this)
g) the selection of Chicago targets and synagogues (the first I follow and the second is puzzling)

Now add the 'spin" and "smoke" in such cases.

[bourbon]

It is emerging that the devices were intended to detonate mid-air in the cargo jets. Reports indicate one of the devices involved a printer-cartridge filled with PETN and linked to a cell phone SIM card encased in the body of the printer.

Presumably, you cannot get a cellular signal over the Atlantic Ocean, suggesting remote detonation must occur shortly after take-off in the UK or in US airspace before landing.

The question that comes to me is what - if any, role does the online package tracking feature offered by UPS and FedEx play in the operation. How detailed is the information you can you get from this feature? For example, would it have alerted the sender that the package had landed at the hub in the UK? From there, and with a little more information you could determine what flight the package was on (if it doesn’t already tell you), and track the flights departure in real time over the internet.

e) the potential commercial impact on air freight

I believe that’s the goal, causing economic system disruption. Two months before the Holidays; perfect timing too.

[bourbon]

the real issue is that packages can be mailed from anywhere to anywhere under any name within the U.S. - you do not need to show ID to send a package. that is an open threat, whether UPS/FEDEX or US postal system etc.

No threat, but like anything it has some risk to it. However the benefits of easy domestic shipping, far eclipse the costs necessary to mitigate this very low risk.