Life - You may be cynical (we can start a club). But recruiting someone who is unstable is a bad idea, because they are unstable, they might talk, or mess up the plan. Recruiting someone who appears unstable but isn't might work better. But this guy really is unstable. NPR has a great story on their site now about how Merck essentially created a whole new market for a drug they had developed: How A Bone Disease Grew To Fit The Prescription : NPR Marketing that plays of people's fears is pretty easy to do. You don't have to resort to hiring nutty people who sew explosives into their undies. There are plenty of above-board marketing methods you can use to scare the crap out of ignorant people.
I also read that the "bomb materials" were formed into an "anatomically correct" shape inside the underwear just in case he went through screening! I guess so just in case the touched his "package" it would feel like the real thing!! I think we may be getting TMI here!! I did read today that Amsterdam has just said they will full body screen everyone going from there to the states. That was a quick solution. No waiting for approval from polls because it is too "intrusive"--let's just do it!
The Amsterdam airport is a busy one from what I understand. It's very common for flights from Amsterdam to Cancun to have pax with Interpol alerts or fake passports or problems. Same with flights from Madrid. Big planes with lots of folks from all over the world = lots of problems with security.
I'd better not ever run for office...I've really made a public spectacle of myself on this board...haha.
Off topic.... Do the airlines have to pay the return flight (and/or get fined) for people with fake passports or Interpol problems? As they do when they fly people without checking for visas? That would seem like a unfair burden on them, if they have no way of knowing beforehand of the issues?
If a pax is rejected by INM, for ANY REASON, then the airline is fined and is responsible for getting the pax off Mexican soil. As far as I know it's pretty much that simple. One of the risks airlines run in flying international routes is that their pax may be rejected by the destination country. If the person has an Interpol alert then they aren't rejected, they are allowed to enter and go straight into police custody, as I understand it (even if the cops are flying back out with that person immediately). If the person has a fake passport and are trying to enter Mexico by air then the pax is usually rejected. And the passport is taken away. So that person will have big problems when they end up back in the country of origin as they will have no passport. So immigration in the origin country will take that person and that person may end up in jail. Sometimes INM will take a pax with a fake passport into custody at the airport, but usually they push the problem back on the airline and the country of origin. It would depend on the circumstances. On the other hand if you came to the attention of INM inside Mexico (not upon entering by air) and you had a fake passport then you would be taken into custody. It's a federal crime. Passports are cool and there are tons more security features in them than people realize. They can actually detect if some passports are fake without even looking at them...very cool. Then there's the fact that most people who are caught with fake passports are nervous. So that's another trigger for the agent. If you look nervous when you walk up to that agent you are already a suspect. The agents are trained to detect nervous behavior and lying. Of course the real bad guys won't be nervous, will have well-rehearsed consistent stories and will have the best fake passports.
Thanks RiverGirl.. while that seems unfair to the airline in some cases, as you said I guess its just the cost of doing business.....
It probably IS unfair to the airline in some cases. But that's the way it works. The majority of pax that get rejected are rejected because of Visa issues, which the airline should catch. And some airlines don't pay their fines in a timely manner either...
