Home › Forums › Costa Rica Living Forum › Security at the airport in Costa Rica
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October 30, 2006 at 12:00 am #179556bradbardMember
I’m guessing but maybe even the security people at San Jose airport are better than this… What do you think?
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Airport screeners fail to see most test bombs
By Ron Marsico
Newhouse News ServiceNEWARK, N.J. Screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the starting points for the Sept. 11 hijackers, failed 20 of 22 security tests conducted by undercover U.S. agents last week, missing concealed bombs and guns at checkpoints throughout the major air hub’s three terminals, according to federal security officials.
The tests, conducted Oct. 19 by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, also revealed failures by screeners to follow standard operating procedures while checking passengers and their baggage for prohibited items, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We can do better, and training is the path to improved performance,” said Mark Hatfield Jr., the Newark airport’s federal security director. The poor test results at Newark come after heightened security procedures that the TSA put in place at U.S. airports in August.
One of the security officials familiar with last week’s tests said Newark screeners missed fake explosive devices hidden under bottles of water in carry-on luggage, taped beneath an agent’s clothing and concealed under a leg bandage another tester wore.
The official said screeners also failed to use handheld metal-detector wands when required, missed an explosive device during a pat-down and failed to properly hand-check suspicious carry-on bags. Supervisors also were cited for failing to properly monitor checkpoint screeners, the official said. “We just totally missed everything,” the official said.
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How many billions have we spent on Homeland Security?
There are no words to express this level of incompetence.
October 30, 2006 at 1:34 pm #179557DavidCMurrayParticipantWe haven’t spent anything on Homeland Security, Brad. What we’ve spent billions on is the *appearance* of Homeland Security.
October 30, 2006 at 4:30 pm #179558AndrewKeymasterMust admit that these results are certainly ‘shake-you-by-the-shoulders “shocking” but, I do not believe that Costa Rica is considered a target by the extremists that would normally target the USA.
If US “foreign policy” continues along the same cataclysmic path then US citizens living in any foreign country will certainly become targets but not necessarily the country itself. I am shocked that nobody else seems surprised that we have not seen far more violence against US citizens elsewhere. After all, aren’t we not told every day that this is a war?
Failing 91% of the undercover security tests at Newark (where my children fly from on every trip) clearly proves that this whole “security” operation is totally bloody useless.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comOctober 30, 2006 at 8:20 pm #179559bradbardMemberIf think about it for more than a second, you can only come to the inescapable conclusion that the “war” on terror is 99% hogwash.
If you use the US government’s definition of terrorism you will quickly understand that the US government is by far the biggest and most effective terrorist organization on earth.
If someone wanted to terrorize people, how difficult would it be to sit there half a mile away from an international airport anywhere in Europe, Central or Latin America with an anti-aircraft SAM type weapon and pick off the next American Airlines flight?
How difficult would it be to take a submachine gun and attack and slaughter all the occupants of an American school bus that’s taking kids to and from school in practically any major city anywhere in the world?
Real easy! But it hasn’t been done because the ‘war on terror’ is bullshit.
People need to understand that the ‘war’ is partially directed at their own citizens because our whole way of life is about to come crashing down before our eyes. The government will need to have much more control over the US people and they have only just begun.
People need to understand that without oil, the US military machine screeches to a halt, military supremacy will then boil down to the tens of thousands of nuclear weapons that the USA has and guaranteed annihilation.
Without oil, the whole capitalist, economic system will crumble like the immune system of a US soldier after his exposure to the depleted uranium weapons given to him by his own government.
And people need to understand that creating a new world war is actually something that is on the agenda of the depopulationists and the ‘rapture’ lunatics who are looking forward to Armageddon and this is a large and increasingly influential group of people.
Educate yourself and your loved ones! Prepare yourself and make sure you have a sanctuary (maybe in Costa Rica) because the next 25 years will bring more horrors, death and destruction than any of us could imagine.
November 1, 2006 at 3:16 pm #179560bradbardMemberPlease remind us again what that has to do with Iraq?
“Invading Iraq after September 11th, is like invading Mexico after Pearl Harbor.”
A quote from Richard Clarke when interviewed by Tim Russert of Meet the Press, Sunday, March 28th, 2004
May I suggest that as the former White House terrorism adviser, he knows a little more about “terrorism” than any of us on this board do …
November 1, 2006 at 7:04 pm #179561guruMemberSJO:
The last time we left via SJO we had a borrowed knapsack from friends in CR. The security folks found a pack of matches in one of its pockets and was very serious about it. . .
A pack of matches is not a bomb, but it is small.
The fact is that I doubt that another airliner could be used as a WMD over the US. Passengers will do what they did on Flight 93. The 9/11 gambit was good for ONE ocassion. It will not happen again.
So. . most of the “increased” security is a wast of money.
November 1, 2006 at 7:09 pm #179562AndrewKeymasterI had lunch today with an American friend who’s best buddy flew from New Mexico to North Carolina a few months ago with his Glock tucked away nicely in his laptop bag…
He had totally forgotten that the Glock was there and when he arrived in NC and opened his laptop, the poor guy nearly had a heart attack when his Glock slid out…
Good to know that they find small packets of matches in San Jose but not so good to see that they fail to find loaded Glocks on domestic US flights.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comNovember 2, 2006 at 11:49 am #179563DavidCMurrayParticipantThe Glock was probably not loaded and I’ll bet the safety was on, as would be expected of any responsible gun owner. By contrast, people are always leaving their fingernail clippers and emery boards with the safeties off.
November 2, 2006 at 12:13 pm #179564moderatorMemberThis posted in the wrong place and reposted here.
Posted Nov 02,2006 4:15 AM alfred
The security at SJO is far greater when leaving to travel to the US than flying from JFK to Costa Rica. Our carry on luggage was checked no less than three times at Juan Santamaria and I was metal detected twice. So was everyone else. This was just days after the liquid ban. AT JFK the security was about the same as the year before. I might add that the officials at SJO are far more courteous and respectful than on the US side.
It amazes me with all the money we spend in the US on “Homeland security”, and for the lack of money Costa Rica has, I feel safer on a plane leaving CR than one leaving the US. I’m curious if anyone else has this feeling?November 4, 2006 at 11:58 am #179565Chip00MemberDavidcmurry, there is no safety on a Glock.
November 4, 2006 at 9:45 pm #179566DavidCMurrayParticipantThat’s “davidcmurrAy” to you, buster!
Picky, picky, picky . . .
January 18, 2007 at 12:16 am #179567makohanMemberWell, when I moved to Costa Rica about a year and half ago, we brought in nine large plastic trunks full of everything from household items to clothing to the children’s toys. Only one trunk was opened by security as we entered the country; the security guard asked what was in the other trunks, I told him, and he waved us on through customs without opening the other 8 trunks.
When we returned to the US, much to my surprise, not one latch was removed, nor one trunk opened upon reentry. I was actually a bit disturbed by this given that it was around the time frame when the war in Iraq began and the war on terrorism was supposedly being fought at all of our entry points. A bit frightening if you ask me.
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