Pubdate: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 Source: International Herald-Tribune Copyright: International Herald Tribune 1999 Contact: http://www.iht.com/ Page: 3 Author: By Brian Knowlton, International Herald Tribune MIAMI DRUG RING ARRESTS RAISE ALARM ABOUT AIRPORT SECURITY WASHINGTON -- The arrests of dozens of American Airline line employees and other workers at Miami International Airport for their alleged roles in a huge drug and weapons smuggling operation has raised questions about security not only in Miami but also at other airports, officials and analysts said. "There are dangerous and intolerable conditions that exist at the airport that could compromise the security of you and your family," said Thomas Scott, the U.S. attorney for southern Florida. He urged security reforms at Miami International and other airports. Authorities said the smuggling network was made possible in part by what they called "shocking" lapses in security at Miami. At least 48 people, many of them American Airlines luggage handlers or food-service employees of the huge LSG Sky Chefs catering company, have been arrested in what officials called the biggest drug-smuggling investigation ever against employees of a U.S. airline. American Airlines and LSG Sky Chefs, a Lufthansa subsidiary, have vowed their cooperation and said service would not be affected. Many suspects face life in prison if convicted on charges of smuggling weapons and narcotics, first from South America to Miami, and then in some cases on to other airports in the Northeastern United States. Ten other people are named in the multiple indictments handed down in Miami and New York state. In some cases, authorities said, uniformed ramp workers were able to come to the airport on their days off, drive baggage vehicles to arriving international flights. and unload a single bag, unchallenged. They then carried the contraband out of the airport in backpacks. "They were never challenged, they were never asked, 'Why are you here'?' " said Mr. Scott. He said investigators were shocked at how easily the employees were able to move about the airport at times and in places where they had no clearance. Raymond Kelly, the U.S. Customs Service cornmissioner, called for "much closer scrutiny, much closer monitoring on the part of the airlines of their employees." Since 1996. the Customs Office has required background checks on all airport employees with access to cargo. But an unintended result, say some aviation experts, has been less rigorous checking of employees, one-hired. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said that the agency would audit the background checks of any airport employees arrested. Nearly all those arrested live in the Miami area, though eight other persons, seven of them American Airlines workers, were arrested in New York state in a related case. The FAA has pushed for a requirement that airport employees pass through metal detectors as they come and go each day; it also favors a policy of encouraging employees to report any unauthorized persons in restricted areas. The airlines, however, say security is already tight and that such measures would carry high costs. The problem of air-port security -- including the theft of luggage -- has been chronic at some airports, including Miami. When federal agents searched suspects' homes in the Miami area Wednesday, they found S69,000 in cash, a safe and five laptop computers that they said apparently had been stolen from luggage. American, as the largest carrier to link the United States and Latin America and the only one with direct flights to Colombia, has been particularly vulnerable. Earlier this year, an employee in Puerto Rico was arrested for allegedly smuggling 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of cocaine. And in 1997, six American Airlines mechanics were arrested in Miami on suspicion of smuggling about 1,000 pounds of cocaine and heroin. Drug seizures involving American Airlines, however, are down sharply from two years ago, and Customs officials attribute this partly to improved cooperation with the airline. "This is a company with zero tolerance for illegal drugs," said Larry Wansley, American's managing director of security. The airline blamed the problem on a "small group of employees." In the course of the sting operation, agent, documented 38 separate transactions in which 283 kilograms of fake cocaine were smuggled by American Airlines or Sky Chef employees. But they also smuggled handguns and, in one case, were prepared to place three disarmed hand grenades on a Miami to Philadelphia flight. "It's an issue here not only of narcotics." Mr. Scott said, "but issues of security of the airport and the security of the flying public." Drugs, originating in Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador, were hidden in food carts, wall panels overhead compartments, cargo holds, wall panels, bathrooms and even wheel bays. Mr. Scott's office recommended a tightening of security at airports, by limiting access to secure areas, issuing ID cards that would track employees, and greater use of baggage scanners. In another, possibly related case, 10 Colombians were arrested last weekend in Cali on drug charges, including the use of American Airline flights to smuggle more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine and heroin to Miami over two years. The Colombian government contended Wednesday that smugglers used American Airlines because its planes "were not subjected to as rigorous inspections as occurs with Colombian airlines." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea