Man Arrested With Meat Cleaver at Miami Airport

Associated Press ^ | Nov 18, 2002 | AP Staff

[Dixie Mom]

Man Arrested With Meat Cleaver at Miami Airport
The Associated Press
Published: Nov 18, 2002

MIAMI (AP) - Police arrested a Sri Lankan national Monday and accused him of carrying a meat cleaver wrapped in newspaper through a security point at the airport.

Joseph Jarvens Almeida, 39, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and with an airport screening point violation.

A spokesman at police headquarters said he had immediate information on why the man was carrying the cleaver.

He was being held Monday at Miami-Dade County jail on $1,000 bond.

Almeida was trying to board a flight from Miami to New York before flying to Germany, police said.

An airport screener saw the butcher's tool when it passed through an X-ray machine at Miami International Airport and notified police.

AP-ES-11-18-02 1756EST

[Dixie Mom]

A definite no-no.

[Young Werther]

Meat Cleaver? Is that the evil cousin of Wally and the Beav?

[Eastbound]

"Hold Muh Lamb Chops Alert"

[Willie Green]

Er will immer eine Extrawurst.

[PAR35]

Earlier version from another source here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/791356/posts

[LRS]

Wanted to slash fares?

[Ciexyz]

Terrorists are trying to push the envelope and test what they can get away with. That's the theory that the Israelis have about their El Al attempted hijacking.

[Victor]

OK, true enough. Plastic explosives in a shoe (fairly sophisticated), trained pilots flying 767's into buildings (more sophisticated)....

But meat cleavers going through airport screening? Give me a break.

How smart are these people, anyhow?

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

What an exciting day at the Miami airport. Didn't someone attempt to smuggle a gun and 50 bullets on board in a DVD player? Must be terrorism fatigue...I keep thinking of the scene from the movie "Airplane" where the passengers armed with various weapons wait in line to hit the hysterical passenger. No dessert for me tonight. (^;

[Lo-Pro]

Story from "La Stampa" in Italy (ignored in US)...An Italian space engineer (working in conjunction w/Russian program) accidentally discovered that Teflon fiber clothing conceals weapons from metal detectors. He went through (in a test) with a gun, knives etc. Either constructing a pouch of the material, OR wearing such clothing had same effect.
-a reporter-

[JOE6PAK]

Hey You...NO CUTTING IN LINE!

[Lo-Pro]

His name: Carlo Viberti, chosen by Ukraine’s Technology Institute(prime Space-ICT supplier for MIR and Russian space segments of the ISS Space Station)for world-first privately financed technology testing manned spaceflight.

[TruthWillWin]

What this? You mean this is a banned item? What are they going to ban next?

[Lo-Pro]

NO it is NOT BANNED...being ignored by embarrased/or incompetent US authorities. (from the Italian article...this happened in FEB)

[note discovery happened accidentally...the Italian engineer wore a thin flight suit to airport, forgot he had knife in pocket...then tested it at numerous airports....what he did not realize THEN was that the fabics ARE commercially available in some common clothing]

"The material in question is called Teflon Protector and is commonly used in designer overcoats,windbreakers, and down jackets...... "It is a purely physical phenomenon," explains aeronautics engineer Carlo Viberti of the Turin Cosmo Association, the man who made the discovery. Teflon is a fibre based on complex molecules known as
tetrafluorocarbons, which, thermomechanically, make for a highly resistant membrane. This material is extremely porous, but impervious to metal-detector waves, therefore affording approximately 60 percent
"coverage." What this means is that, depending on the metallic mass being transported, fabric thickness, transit speed through the detector
frame, and detector emission power, the alarm can easily fail to go off."

[Wild Irish Rogue]

Elderly relatives,by marriage, made it though the American concourse at Miami International last week-using a photocopy of a passport as their only ID( incredibly easy to fake,no questions asked) and comments about bringing a gun on plane by the older gentleman,( who owns 2 handguns) were waved on, as a joke-no questions or extra scrutiny asked.Unbelievable.

[TruthWillWin]

???

I'm referring to the meat cleaver

[Lo-Pro]

I know- I read/typed too fast

[Clemenza]

When Clemenza would fly back to Miami from various locales in Latin America, he was never searched and even brought a machete and Cuban rum into the country.

Of course, this was pre-9/11.

[chit*chat]

I'm sure it's just a cultural misunderstanding. /sarcasm

[PBRSTREETGANG]

An Italian space engineer (working in conjunction w/Russian program) accidentally discovered that Teflon fiber clothing conceals weapons from metal detectors.

Definitely trading in my Tin Foil for Teflon Fiber now.