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Radio 4's The World Tonight reveals serious loopholes in airline cargo
industry's security systems
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91Èȱ¬ Radio 4's The World Tonight has revealed serious loopholes in the airline cargo
industry's security systems.
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The special investigation by the 91Èȱ¬ started when a case tried at Kingston
Crown Court revealed that the "known shipper" system used by air courier and
cargo companies had been broken by drug smugglers and used to import large
amounts of cocaine into the UK from America.
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During the case a former employee of Federal Express, Simon Virgo, admitted
selling the confidential account numbers of reputable firms at Fedex's depot in
Vauxhall, South London.
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This allowed a student called Olumwaseum Adeyemi and his accomplices abroad to
smuggle in drugs using the security clearance and accounts of innocent
companies who were unaware that their accounts were being abused.
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Adeyemi was
sentenced to 11 years after being convicted of one count of conspiracy to
import drugs and another of conspiracy to supply drugs.
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Mr Virgo and two other men and a woman were acquitted of all charges.
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During the case prosecution witness Brian Fenn, Head of UK security for Fedex,
admitted in evidence that the known shipper system, if so abused, could also
potentially be used to smuggle a bomb onto a plane undetected.
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The "Known Shipper" system, is a security scheme which is employed by many
governments around the world including those of the United States, the UK and other EU member
states.
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In the UK there are about 1,500 known shippers who are also known as "Known Consignors".
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When companies or individuals apply to be granted known shipper status they are
security vetted.
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If successful then any parcels or cargo they send to be
shipped are assumed to be safe and legal. These packages are not x-rayed or
inspected unless they arouse suspicion.
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In the UK some of this cargo is subject
to random testing but in the US virtually none is.
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During The World Tonight's investigation it also emerged that the web-based
system which allows cargo company customers to track their parcels could be
used by terrorists to target particular flights and that the cargo industry's
vetting system was unlikely to spot some terrorists.
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Captain Gary Boettcher is President of the US Coalition Of Airline Pilots
Associations, which represents 22,000 passenger and cargo pilots.
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He described the "known shipper" system as
".. probably the weakest part of the cargo security today. There are approx
1.5 million known shippers in the US. There are thousands of freight
forwarders.
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"Anywhere down the line packages can be intercepted at these
organisations. Even reliable respectable organisations, you really don't know
who is in the warehouse, who is tampering with packages, who is putting the
original parcels together. Anywhere along the way that package could be
intercepted.
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"A package goes from New York to Britain could have a bomb on it
that is barometrically detonated so that when the plane descends down to
British airspace the bomb goes off.
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"Nobody along the way would know the package
had been tampered with or traded out. You don't know what's in the box!" Ìý
In a statement to the 91Èȱ¬ Fedex said that security had been a top priority for
the company even before the September 11 attacks.
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The statement added: "The company has worked cooperatively and effectively with
law enforcement and regulatory agencies around the world for a number of years
to continuously strengthen our security programme.
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"Not only does FedEx comply
with all country-specific aviation security and anti-terrorist regulations in
both the UK and the US, but our security processes and procedures meet and
often exceed regulatory requirements as well.
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"The FedEx security systems
consist of multiple layers of interlocking procedures and processes and contain
a number of redundancies that comprise an excellent security system.
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"We do not,
however, discuss specific measures for obvious reasons."
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Notes to Editors
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The World Tonight is broadcast between 10.00 and 10.45pm, weekdays, on Radio 4 and the
internet.
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If using the above material please credit 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4's The World Tonight.
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