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  • UPS air cargo blocked by Britain over security concerns

    UPS air cargo blocked by Britain over security concerns

    UPS air cargo blocked by Britain over security concerns

    Fake bomb was found on UPS flight in March while printer cartridge bomb was discovered on one of firm’s planes in 2010

    Adam Gabbatt
    guardian.co.uk

    Packages being removed from a UPS container at East Midlands airport after suspected bomb was found

    Packages being removed from a UPS container at East Midlands airport after a suspected bomb was found in October 2010. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters
    Packages being removed from a UPS container at East Midlands airport after a suspected bomb was found in October 2010. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters

    The Department for Transport has barred the delivery firm UPS from moving air cargo through sites in the UK due to “security requirements”.

    A spokeswoman would not reveal which sites had been restricted and why the move had been taken. Asked if it was due to an explosive device, she said the DfT would not “give details of security arrangements”.

    In March, an investigation was launched after a fake bomb was placed on a UPS flight to Istanbul. The Metropolitan police arrested a 26-year-old man, but said the incident was not terrorist related. The suspicious device travelled to Turkey from the UK without being detected.

    In October 2010, a printer cartridge bomb was found on a UPS cargo plane at East Midlands airport, triggering new security measures in the UK, implemented from November.

    The UPS plane was bound for Chicago, and an alarm clock on a mobile phone attached to the device was set to go off at 10.30am BST – when the plane would have been over the eastern seaboard of the US.

    “The safety of the travelling public is paramount and our security regime is kept under constant review,” the DfT spokeswoman said.

    “We can confirm that, following careful consideration, the department has restricted the number of sites in the UK at which UPS Ltd are permitted to screen air cargo until it has satisfied current security requirements.”

    She added: “For obvious security reasons we will not comment on the details.”

    UPS was not immediately available for comment.

    via UPS air cargo blocked by Britain over security concerns | World news | guardian.co.uk.

  • Suspicious ‘wedding cake’ package reaches Istanbul in UK cargo aircraft

    Suspicious ‘wedding cake’ package reaches Istanbul in UK cargo aircraft

    A fake bomb carried on board a cargo aircraft from Britain to Istanbul, consisting of a wedding cake box with a timer, wires and a detonator, wasn’t discovered until the plane reached its destination.

    upsThe suspicious package went undetected after being delivered to carrier UPS in Camden, north London, a fortnight ago, according to ITN.

    UPS is the same airline that carried a bomb disguised as a printer ink cartridge from Yemen to East Midlands airport last year.

    According to the Metropolitan Police, a search was carried out at an address in north London after the latest incident and a 26-year-old man arrested. He was later bailed to return on a date in May.

    A spokesman at the Department for Transport said they were aware of the incident and took it very seriously.

    ‘We have already begun an investigation which will look at all aspects of this incident, including UPS’s procedures,’ a Department for Transport spokesperson commented.

    ‘The UK has one of the toughest security regimes for air cargo in the world. All security measures are subject to continuous review.’

    In a statement, UPS confirmed that ‘a suspicious package’ travelled in its network aboard an all-cargo aircraft from the UK to Turkey.

    ‘UPS is cooperating with the British Department for Transport’s investigation of the incident,’ the statement continued.

    The bomb hoax is not believed to be linked to terrorism.

    In the wake of the 2010 incident involving two bombs disguised as printers and sent to the US by Yemen-based al-Qaeda, cargo screening procedures across the world were supposed to have been tightened.

    via Suspicious ‘wedding cake’ package reaches Istanbul in UK cargo aircraft | Metro.co.uk.