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Screeners Find Hidden Box Cutter and Gun Parts

Air Safety Week, Feb 25, 2008

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners continue to strip airline passengers of illegal weaponry.

Take for example, the Clearwater, Florida man who recently pleaded guilty, saying he had forgotten about the cleverly hidden box cutter.

The X-ray image of a box cutter inside Benjamin Baines' backpack caught the attention of TSA screeners at Tampa International Airport. Terrorists in the Sept. 11 attacks reportedly used box cutters to hijack at least one of the jetliners.

But it was the packaging that really jolted them: a hollowed-out book that hid the razor-sharp tool. Also inside the backpack: a Koran, a Holy Bible and rap music lyrics referencing police, drugs and guns.

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Baines, 21, told investigators he forgot the box cutter was inside the copy of Fear Itself when he packed his bag for a trip to Las Vegas.

He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty in a local court and received a 30-day jail sentence. The U.S. Attorney's Office is looking into the case but has not yet filed charges. Baines could also face a civil charge, with a fine up to $10,000, for carrying a prohibited item through a checkpoint.

"What raises our concern is when an item is artfully concealed," said Christopher White, a TSA spokesman. "It's different than a box cutter inside a backpack."

Relatives say he's a good kid with no previous criminal record.

He wrote rap music for an uncle's production company and worked in the purchasing department at a Florida resort.

Baines studies various religions, say relatives who insist he's no terrorist. "He's not militant," said a cousin. "He's not a crazy blow-yourself- up kind of guy. It's all a major misunderstanding."

An uncle said Baines forgot that the box cutter, which he used at a former job, was in the backpack. The police report says Baines was scheduled to fly Southwest Airlines Flight 338 to Jacksonville, then catch another plane to Las Vegas, where his father lives. He reached security screening at Airside C where an X-ray operator spotted the box cutter.

The TSA officer found the tool inside a "compartment" within the book. Baines told officers he cut out the pages to keep marijuana and money from being stolen by roommates. Inside the backpack were the Koran and Bible and other religious books.

The violent rap lyrics, Baines said, were his work. "He stated that rap music lyrics is all lies and that rap music writers have to play the part," the police report states.

Meanwhile, a national records check found Baines had no criminal convictions.

At a court hearing, Baines pleaded guilty to the concealed weapons charge. He wasn't represented by an attorney and insisted that TSA and airport officers charged him because "he was black and carrying the Koran."

On the other hand, screeners at New York's Kennedy International late last year found gun parts cleverly concealed in laptop computers.

While checking a passenger's bag, a screener observed what appeared to be images of gun parts. A bag check revealed eight ammunition slides taped inside battery compartments of four laptops, along with shell casings, a rifle stock and night vision binoculars.

It was determined that the gun parts, if assembled, could not form a functioning firearm.

When questioned, the passenger said he bought the gun parts online to take to Russia and admitted hiding them inside the computers.

The passenger was held for questioning and later released after being issued a citation by Customs and Border Protection. The items were confiscated.

Also last year, a high-powered scope used for night vision was found on the same passenger during secondary screening.

Government Industry

Screeners Find Hidden Box Cutter and Gun Parts

Air Safety Week, Feb 25, 2008

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