Feds: Crooked TSA Screeners Arrested in Drug Trafficking Scheme

Editor`s note: yet another TSA scandal, when will they dismantle this inept institution?


By JASON RYAN (@JasonRyanABC) and LEE FERRAN
ABC News
April 25, 2012

Multiple airport screeners have been arrested for allegedly taking handsome bribes to look the other way while loads of illegal drugs slipped through security at Los Angeles International Airport, federal officials announced today.

Two current and two former officials at the Transportation Security Administration were arrested in the last 48 hours in connection with at least five incidents from February 2011 to July 2011 in which on duty screeners took payments of up to $2,400 to allow suitcases filled with drugs to pass unimpeded through X-ray machines at LAX, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr.'s office said in a statement.

According to Birotte's office, the scheme was uncovered after a member of the alleged conspiracy accidentally went through the wrong security line and was busted by TSA screeners who were not in on the plot. In another case, a TSA screener unknowingly arranged with a confidential source for the Drug Enforcement Administration to receive $1,200 for a shipment of methamphetamine to pass through security.

The current TSA employees, 23-year-old John Whitfield and 25-year-old Capeline McKinney, and the former screeners, 30-year-old Naral Richardson and 27-year-old Joy White, are all expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles today. If convicted, each could potentially face life in prison, Birotte's office said. The two current officials have been suspended indefinitely without pay, officials from the Department of Homeland Security told ABC News. The plot also allegedly involved a couple of known drug runners.

"Airport screeners act as a vital checkpoint for homeland security, and air travelers should believe in the fundamental integrity of security systems at our nation's airports," Birotte said. "The allegations in this case describe a significant breakdown of the screening system through the conduct of individuals who placed greed above the nation's security needs."

A spokesperson for the TSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this report, but Randy Parsons, the TSA Federal Security Director at LAX, said in the statement from Birotte's office the TSA "has assured the investigating agencies we will do everything we can to assist in their investigation."

"While the arrests are a disappointment, TSA is committed to holding our employees to the highest standards," he said.

Utter defiance by TSA: Leaves note telling passenger "go to hell"

TSA Leaves Note Telling Passenger To “Go To Hell”
Scrawled comment on complaint form after agents tampered with luggage

Steve Watson
Infowars.com
April 24, 2012

New Yorker Ross Berenson can burn for ever in eternal damnation as far as the TSA are concerned, following his attempts to find out why his luggage had been broken into and tampered with during a flight from LAX to JFK.

When Berenson discovered that the “TSA-certified” green lock on his bag had been removed and the loops of the zippers cut, he enquired with airline JetBlue as to what had happened.

The Manhattan-based graphic designer was referred to TSA representatives.

“Nobody could give me any answers about what happened in LA, but they very politely told me if I wanted to file a complaint I could fill out this form,” Berenson told Gothamist.

TWITTER VIA @ROSSBERENSON; Infowars

When he looked at the form more closely, Berenson discovered that someone from the TSA had scrawled the words “go to hellllll” on it.

“Everyone was very helpful and nice. I didn’t realize the form said ‘Go to hell’ until I got on the subway.” Berenson said. ”

I’m pretty laid back, but seeing an official form like this say ‘Go to hell’ is pretty shocking.” he added.

Berenson also said that he believes the form, including the handwritten portion, is a photocopy and that other versions may have been issued to other passengers wishing to make complaints against the agency.

A TSA spokesperson told the blog site issued the following statement in response to the incident:

    The TSA looks forward to the opportunity to work directly with the passenger to learn more 
    about his interaction with the employee and the hand-written note on the form he received. 
    This will assist us in reviewing the issue. Additionally, we will work with the passenger to 
    address the damaged luggage.

    TSA-recognized locks are easily identified by the screening workforce and can be opened 
    and relocked by TSA officers if a physical inspection is required. Also, when TSA opens a 
    checked bag, a notice of inspection is placed inside.

“I can’t prove the TSA did this to my bag,” Berenson said. “And there was no note saying they inspected it.”

However, the TSA has a history of leaving handwritten notes in passengers’ luggage. Last October a TSA screener saw fit to make a humiliating joke about the contents of a flyer’s luggage, writing “GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL,” on a TSA inspection note after finding a sex toy.

In another incident in December, a screener left a note reading “C’mon Son” after discovering two bags of marijuana in the suitcase of rapper Freddie Gibbs.

Although he says he has no immediate plans to visit hell, Ross Berenson says he is going to file a formal complaint with the TSA

“I’m a pretty calm person,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world, it’s just luggage.”
—————————————————————-

Another TSA scandal...it just never ends

TSA baggage inspector accused of stealing iPads from luggage in Dallas
NY Post/NEWSCORE
April 14, 2012

DALLAS -- A Transportation Security Administration official has been charged after being accused of stealing eight iPads from luggage at Dallas/Fort Worth International airport, KXAS-TV reported.

Clayton Keith Dovel, a baggage inspector, has been charged with theft by a public servant and has been suspended by the TSA.

"The unacceptable behavior of this individual in no way reflects the dedication of our nearly 50,000 transportation security officers who work tirelessly to keep our skies safe," TSA said in a statement obtained by the station.

One victim of Dovel's alleged thefts is University of Texas at Arlington student Borna Maira, who told KXAS that his iPad went missing when he traveled through the airport in May 2011.
"I noticed my iPad was not in my luggage, and I thought, 'Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I left it at my apartment,'" he said.

Police contacted him months later after finding the iPad at Dovel's home.

Dovel could face between two and 10 years in prison if convicted.

Bombshell from TSA whistleblower: Body Scanners Routinely Fail

TSA Whistleblower: Body Scanners Routinely Fail
Guns, knives, explosive material not recognized by $1 billion dollar fleet of scanners

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A TSA screener has lifted to lid to reveal how the federal agency’s $1 billion dollar plus fleet of body scanners is completely useless in that the machines routinely fail to pick up prohibited items such as knives, guns and powder designed to resemble explosive material.



In an interview conducted by Jon Corbett, the engineer who recently exposed how the scanners could be fooled by simply securing an object inside an external pocket sewn on to an item of clothing, “Jennifer,” a TSA screener, also reveals how the federal agency forced people without the necessary training to operate the scanners.

When Jennifer wrote to her Congressman complaining about the problems, the TSA retaliated by removing her from screening duties and began the process to dismiss her altogether.
In the transcript below, Jennifer explains how the body scanners routinely fail to pick up prohibited items, meaning they are nothing less than a complete waste of money and a prime example of “security theater”.

    Jon: Were there specific times where this machine didn’t work, for either someone testing it,  
    or a passenger went through and it was determined that they went through with…
    Jennifer: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely.
    Jon: Metal objects?
    Jennifer: Metal, non-metal.
    Jon: Big, small?
    Jennifer: Both.
    Jon: Things like wallets I think you mentioned to me?
    Jennifer: Wallets.
    Jon: So you’d send someone through the scanner and you’d see a bulge in their pocket, but 
    the scanner would show nothing?
    Jennifer: Mmhmm.
    Jon: Things during training?
    Jennifer: Absolutely.
    Jon: What would you test it with when you were testing the machines?
    Jennifer: There were different props: guns, knives, bags of powder that were supposed to 
    resemble explosive material.
    Jon: Sometimes these would just go through completely undetected?
    Jennifer: Absolutely.

Jennifer then divulges how the TSA forced screeners who had not received the proper 
training to operate the radiation-firing body scanners.

    Jon: They tried to send you to the machines, and you said, ‘Hold on, I’m not certified.’
    Jennifer: Right.
    Jon: And then in December I guess you tried the same thing and they said, ‘Too bad?’
    Jennifer: We were forced to work on these machines. So basically, there were so few of us 
    trained to work on the machines, they basically forced us.
    Jon: So they didn’t care if you were certified or not?
    Jennifer: No, I actually went to my supervisor — or a supervisor — the first day. I and another 
    officer had this concern, that, you know, ‘Look, we’ve never worked on this particular  
    machine, we don’t know what to do’ and his answer was, ‘Sorry, we don’t have enough 
    staffing, you’re going to have to work on it.’
    Jon: Certified or not, just get on the machine and make the best of it?
    Jennifer: Yep, ‘just have your co-workers help you.’

In the interview Jennifer also exposes how she has never even seen a copy of the Screening Checkpoint Standard Operating Procedures manual,...

(click here to read the full article)

TSA screener at JFK 'hurled hot coffee at American Airlines pilot who told her to stop swearing'...yea its part of their training

Mail Online
By SUZANNAH HILLS
April 4, 2012

An airport security worker was arrested after throwing a cup of hot coffee over a pilot who told her to stop swearing.

Transportation Security Administrator (TSA) Lateisha El, 30, was in the middle of a conversation with work colleagues at a JFK Airport terminal when she was interrupted by the American Airlines pilot.

Off-duty airman Steven Trivett, 54, was exiting terminal 8 when he overheard El swearing and asked her to tone down the profanity.

Arrested: Airport security worker Lateisha El, 30, threw a cup of coffee over pilot Steven Trivett, 54, when he told her to stop swearing at JFK Airport (pictured), credit DailyMail

Trivett, of Butler, Tennessey, told them they should 'conduct themselves more professionally in uniform and not use profanity or the n-word,' according to the New York Post.

One TSA screener told Trivett to 'mind his own business' and swore at him.
Trivett then identified himself as a 'TSA officer' - an armed pilot - before trying to grab the ID tags of screener El to get her name.

But Port Authority police sources told the newspaper that El responded by hurling a 'full cup' cup of hot coffee over the pilot.

Trivett was not seriously injured. El, of Brooklyn’s East New York, was charged with harassment and misdemeanor-assault for the incident at 5am on March 28.