High alert in U.S. after suspicious package found in UK
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/10/29...cern/?hpt=Sbin
(CNN) -- Airports in some of the United States were on high alert Friday after investigators found a suspicious package on a plane in the United Kingdom the night before, a law enforcement source with detailed knowledge of the investigation said.
The suspicious package, which contained a "manipulated" toner cartridge, tested negative for explosive material, the source said, but it led to heightened inspection of arriving cargo flights in Newark, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a UPS truck in New York.
Police also were investigating a suspicious package at the distribution center of an airport in East Midlands, in the United Kingdom, an airport spokesman said. Authorities said they could not immediately connect that investigation to the ones unfolding in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Authorities seemed most focused on inspecting cargo planes.
Investigators were examining two UPS planes that landed at Philadelphia International Airport and another at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, said Mike Mongeot, a UPS spokesman.
Authorities are focusing on flights coming from Yemen into the United States, according to the source.
The Transportation and Security Administration said authorities were acting "out of an abundance of caution."
"The planes were moved to a remote location where they are being met by law enforcement officials and swept," the administration said in a statement.
UPS said it is cooperating with authorities, and its shipment is being removed from the aircraft.
In Philadelphia, three people aboard one plane were removed from the plane and scanned with negative results, the Philadelphia Fire Department said. The type of material that may be involved is not known, officials said.
In Newark, investigators were examining another UPS plane, said Mike Mangot, a UPS spokesman.
In New York, the bomb squad responded to a report of a suspected explosive device inside a package aboard a UPS truck, the deputy police commissioner, Paul Browne, said.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, police were investigating a reported suspicious package at the East Midlands Airport, an airport spokesman, Russell Craig said. The investigation caused minimal disruption and only affected the freight distribution area, he said.