Guns found in US professor's luggage by Egypt customs

[Blue Tile Spook]

BBC News - Guns found in US professor's luggage by Egypt customs

Police in Egypt have arrested an Egyptian-American academic discovered to have several weapons in his luggage as he arrived on a flight from the US.

Officials said they saw the man, named as Mohammed Ibrahim Marei, a professor of botany, "behaving nervously" as he waited to pass through customs.

In his bags they found two handguns, 250 bullets, several swords, daggers and knives.

He had arrived on an Egyptair flight from New York to Cairo.

The authorities said they had launched an investigation, it was reported.
It was not immediately clear how the man was able to get through security in New York and board the plane.

Woops. Someone was asleep at the wheel.

 

[E5RANGER375]

was it his carry on luggage or his checked luggage? if it was carry on then they need to shut down JFK until they do a thorough investigation

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

The report doesn't say (I quoted the whole story above) but it would seem it was in his carry-on luggage.

 

[garagegunmaker]

Wow, his name is Mohammed. I am very surprised.

 

[melensdad]

If the guns were locked in his luggage that was checked through then they could have been legal. It would take a better description of how they were in the luggage to know for sure. Now the fact is that what is legal to do here, may not be legal at the point of arrival. So he could legally board a plane with guns in his luggage in the US where it is legal to do so but if the gun laws of Egypt forbid him from having guns in his luggage then he'd be in deep doo doo.

I've flown many times with guns. Lock them in a case, ammo separate, declare them and check them through. No big deal.

 

[rimfire_crazed]

The report doesn't say (I quoted the whole story above) but it would seem it was in his carry-on luggage.

How so? There's absolutely no inference in the story other than the phrase "in his bags" which is a very generic term for luggage. There is no possible way those items could get through a TSA carry-on screening pre-flight. Swords? Lets get real.

 

[E5RANGER375]

How so? There's absolutely no inference in the story other than the phrase "in his bags" which is a very generic term for luggage. There is no possible way those items could get through a TSA carry-on screening pre-flight. Swords? Lets get real.

well we would hope not, but i dont trust crap to the TSA. what if they left a tarmac door unlocked and the guy bypassed security? it has happened before. thats just one possibility. if you think air travel is safe because the TSA are on watch, you better think again.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

How so? There's absolutely no inference in the story other than the phrase "in his bags" which is a very generic term for luggage. There is no possible way those items could get through a TSA carry-on screening pre-flight. Swords? Lets get real.

Since "he was acting nervous" was in the story, can or will TSA pull his checked luggage out of the baggage area or remove it from the plane for a suspicious acting person? I don't know.

That's why I pondered that it was in carry-on luggage.

BTW, I don't fly, so I haven't personally seen ANY TSA actions.

 

[Scutter01]

Since "he was acting nervous" was in the story, can or will TSA pull his checked luggage out of the baggage area or remove it from the plane for a suspicious acting person? I don't know.

"Acting nervous" isn't damning evidence of premeditation, in spite of the editorial tone of the article. It could simply be that halfway through his flight he suddenly thought "Oh, crap, I forgot to take that stuff out of my bag! I hope I don't get caught because they'll think I'm a terrorist and I'll end up in prison for the next 10 years!" That's an unlikely scenario, IMHO, given the sheer number of things they found. Still, it's worth considering.

 

[rimfire_crazed]

I understood he was arrested and searched in Cairo after visiting Egyptian customs, so the US TSA wouldn't be involved at all in sniffing him out or carrying out any further searches. I'm guessing he was cool as a cucumber leaving the US because frankly he probably hadn't broken any laws.

 

[zoglog]

I just walked into the house to see CNN on and they were breaking this news. He also had 2 magazine clips.

So why would he get in trouble for having clips taking from a magazine? Or is that not what they meant...

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

The Associated Press: Egypt detains NY passenger with guns in luggage

Egypt detains NY passenger with guns in luggage

By SALAH NASRAWI (AP) – 7 hours ago

CAIRO — Airport officials in Cairo say police have detained an American-Egyptian man who arrived on a flight from New York with several weapons in his luggage.

The officials say the man was taken into custody as he tried to pass through customs with a metal box containing two 9 mm handguns, 250 bullets, several swords, daggers and knives.

They say customs officials had been alerted after the weapons were discovered when the box was examined upon arrival Wednesday on an Egypt Air flight from New York's JFK International Airport in Cairo.

A police official confirmed the man was under investigation by prosecutors.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

From another source.

 

[Bubba]

Since "he was acting nervous" was in the story, can or will TSA pull his checked luggage out of the baggage area or remove it from the plane for a suspicious acting person? I don't know.

That's why I pondered that it was in carry-on luggage.

BTW, I don't fly, so I haven't personally seen ANY TSA actions.

It looks from the little info we get that he was already on the ground and presumably had all his luggage in hand waiting to be processed out. Unless Egypt builds their airports radically different from ours, I don't see why security personnel would have to remove his bags from the plane or baggage handling areas.

As far as singling out nervous people, TSA will do it. I was in college during 9/11 and flew several times in the couple years following while TSA was doing random screens at the gate. A few times I found myself boarding the plane almost last. I shuffled my feet nervously, met the screener's eye and quickly looked away, etc. Sure enough, they called me front and center, poked in my backpack to make sure my calculator was really a calculator and set me down the jetway almost at the head of the line. My feelings on personal space have evolved somewhat since then, but at the time I figured hauling out my calculator was a fair price for getting my choice of seats.

 

[dr632]

This is all very confusing.

The only way this makes sense ... this gentleman was in violation of Egyptian law and failed to comply with some requirements on the arriving end.

Otherwise, if this guy did not follow "the rules" on the departing end, I agree JFK needs to be put on hold until this is sorted.

This TSA stuff really wears me out. If my business is within a 10-12 hour drive - I take a rental car and avoid all the fun and games.

 

[moischmoe]

BBC News - Guns found in US professor's luggage by Egypt customs

I thought maybe Indiana Jones finally got busted for flying with guns.