Posted on 02/20/2008 3:44:16 PM PST by jdm
He forgot it was there: TIA Passenger Had Box Cutter In Hollowed-Out Book.
TAMPA A 21-year-old Clearwater man was arrested at Tampa International Airport this weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said.
About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration. When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled Fear Itself. The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.
After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates. Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book.
Officers found books in the backpack titled Muhammad in the Bible, The Prophets Prayer and The Noble Quran. He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.
Several sheets of paper in the backpack included rap lyrics that referred to police, narcotics, weapons and killing. Baines told officers he is a rapper who writes his own lyrics and that rap music writers need to play the part, the report states.
He forgot the federal pen was in Kansas, too.
I think I’ve read (in the hundred-cellphones-bought-at-a-time threads) that their instructions are to have a cover story in case they’re caught. Apparently they are not instructed that the cover story should not be absolutely unbelievable BS.
Testing....testing....testing....
Shouldn’t this be bigger news than some Wal-Mart cashier’s remark to a scarf-covered Muslim?
Yikes ! I fly in and out of that airport all the time
Common problem. Half the time I want .38's, I get the wrong book, then either have to find a different weapon, or hunt the shelves for the right ammo.
Last month, I had to reinforce the shelving, because the contents of the books were getting too heavy. I think it was the 12 ga slugs that were the final straw.
At least all the cut out pages are great for starting fires in the sood stove, though I always have to make sure I don't have any cans of powder hidden in it before lighting it.
Absolutely. It is the down side of using hollowed-out books for low-life things.
OMG! I had no idea he was black! Not that that matters.
Sadly, not much will happen to Ben!! Our Justice System is so broken!
Drudge has this up now
That was my thought too, a few cuts for the passengers, one massive can of whoop*** for the perp.
So that’s where that box cutter is, I’ve been looking all over for it. Doesn’t wash. Sounds like a dry run for something to come.
Ok. If he was a reader of the Threat Matrix, he would have read about it yesterday.
Thanks for the ping, RDTF.
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