Posted on 11/01/2007 10:20:41 AM PDT by Sir Gawain
Two Arrested At Atlanta Airport With Hidden Knives, Razor Blades
POSTED: 6:46 am EDT November 1, 2007 UPDATED: 12:01 pm EDT November 1, 2007
ATLANTA -- Authorities say they have ruled out terrorism in an incident in which two men tried to sneak knives and other weapons onto a flight from Atlanta to New York.
One of the men even made it through security and onto the Delta Air Lines flight. Both have been charged with state violations of carrying concealed weapons, according to an Atlanta police report.
Authorities surrounded 60-year-old Chhaganbhai Patel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on October 25 after he was found with a number of knives including a martial arts-style knife.
Atlanta police Lt. Jim Corlino said the knife was a large Chinese-style fighting knife with blades that opened on both ends.
Authorities also found 20 small knives wrapped in tin foil. And upon searching Patel's bag three more times, they found razor blades hidden in the battery compartment of a toy car.
Shakarabhai Patel, 64, who was traveling with Chhaganbhai Patel had already made it through security and onto the flight, which was bound for New York and then to India. Officials did not immediately indicate the relationship between the two men.
The plane was brought back to the gate and police said they found a box cutter and $5,000 cash in the second man's bag.
They have been charged with weapons charges. Both men remain in jail while police investigate.
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ATLANTA (AP) — A man with a box cutter in his luggage got through airport security, and was discovered only after screeners stopped a companion who was carrying knives, authorities said. Terrorism was ruled out but both were arrested on state weapons charges.
Authorities said Chhaganbhai Patel, 60, was stopped at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Oct. 25 after he was found with a number of knives including a martial arts-style knife.
Shakarabhai Patel, 64, who was traveling with him, had already made it through security and onto the Delta Air Lines jet, which was bound for New York and then to India, authorities said. The plane was brought back to the gate and police said a box cutter and $5,000 cash were found in the second man's bag.
Both have been charged with state violations of carrying concealed weapons, according to an Atlanta police report.
FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett said Thursday that federal agents interviewed the two men through an interpreter and determined the incident was not terrorism-related. No federal charges were brought. He declined to explain why the men had the knives.
Atlanta police Lt. Jim Corlino told Atlanta television station WAGA that the way the knives were packed "was an intentional concealment."
"The (martial arts) knife was a large, Chinese-style fighting knife," Corlino said. Authorities said they also found 20 small knives wrapped in tin foil and razor blades hidden in the battery compartment of a toy car. The police report said the man indicated he wrapped the knives to keep them from cutting his clothes.
Jon Allen, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said the arrests illustrate the agency's practice of having multiple layers of security.
"One of those layers is professionally trained officers who through their questioning identified the travel companion," Allen said. "The travel companion was removed from the flight and rescreened and that's when that box cutter was identified."
Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said the airline cooperated fully with authorities.
It was not immediately clear if the men had lawyers; police did not return calls seeking more details.
And what about the third “h”?
‘I don’t know...if these two people were named John Smith and Joe Smith, would you automatically assume they were related? It’s about the same equivalent here, really.’
Really?
Open a phone book, count the number of pages required to list every ‘Smith’.
Do the same with the name ‘Patel’.
Let me know the count, and difference....(chuckle)
Ping.
Why would anyone put razor blades in a toy car if they didn’t want to hide them?
I don’t buy it.
Not terror related!! Razor blades hidden in a toy!! A box cutter on a plane. What “authorities” ruled out terrorism. We need names on that kind of idiotic statement.
a white male doing anything is deemed a terrorist....a patel carrying karate knives....come on man...you gotta be pc and multicultural sensitive!!!
They’re a little old and a little Hindu to be terrorists, maybe? Profiling, tsk.
Maybe just planned hijacking-for-profit, not politics.
Maybe just stupid. But you really have to work to be that stupid.
Mrs VS
Patel is like Smith.
Mrs VS
‘Okay, my point was that Patel is the second most common Indian name in the entire world, so yes, since they were both traveling with knives in their possession, it would be easy to assume that they were in some way related; however you know what they say about people who ASS-U-ME things.’
If the flight was originating in New Delhi, I’d agree with your point.
Not in America.
This past week my cousin and I returned to Dulles from a vacation in China. At IAD, she was traveling, one way, to TPA, so that immediately caused her to be selected for a special security search.
The “special” line, at 7:20 am, was very long. In fact, a young Caucasian gal (about 25 yrs. old) missed her 8 am flight because of the long line. I saw men and women, mostly Caucasian, in that 45 minute long line, ranging in age from what appeared to be 25 to 80 yrs old. Why oh why can’t we profile somewhat and avoid the inconvenience?
In another security line, I noticed a Middle Eastern TPA worker wearing a turban, and in charge of watching the Xray monitors as passengers’ baggage went through the belt.
???????
Those pesky Amish people.
I agree these people here don't exactly fit the profile of a terrorist, at age 64 and above, but still, one can't be too careful.
LOL!
>>What does it take to be “terrorism-related” exactly, I wonder?<<
They are probably not muslims...
Chhaganbhai Patel? Damn Swedes!
I can hear the islam death cult now......
Dear American People, please go back to sleep. You make it too difficult to kill you......(whine, moan, whine.....)
Ah yes, well, one must scream "allah akbar" and "death to America, death to the infidels", while slashing anyone within reach AND drawing copious amounts of blood.
>>Lots of cash. <<
Terrorists don’t really have a need to bring cash on a flight...
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