Undercover agents reveal security failures at US airports: Report
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has failed 95 percent of undercover tests carried out by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in airports across the United States recently, a report reveals.
Agents with the US Homeland Security Red Teams managed to smuggle fake weapons and explosives through checkpoints without any detection in 67 out of 70 trials, ABC News reported on Monday.
It was not clear when and where the tests were conducted exactly but officials said they were concluded recently an compiled in a Homeland Security Inspector General’s report.
The security failures have caused concerns among US authorities, including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
“Upon learning the initial findings of the Office of Inspector General's report, Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report,” the DHS said in a written statement.
In one of the tests, TSA screeners searched an undercover agent after he set off an alarm at a magnetometer, but failed to detect the mock explosive he had taped to his back.
Similar tests, conducted in 2013, also ended with the screeners failing to spot the undercover agents.
A more recent review demonstrated similar failures with no noticeable improvements at US airports in spite of spending $540 million for checked baggage screening equipment and another $11 million for training since a previous review in 2009.
NT/NT
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