Terror groups may have acquired airport screening equipment

Leslie Lopez Image
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Terror groups may have acquired airport screening equipment
Intelligence officials believe terrorist groups may have acquired airport screening equipment to test new ways to hide explosives in laptops and other electronic devices, ABC News has confirmed.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- New concerns about airport security are being raised after U.S. intelligence suggests terrorists may have obtained security screening equipment, ABC News has confirmed.

The terror organizations may be using the equipment to test their ability to hide explosives in laptops and other electronic devices.

This comes just a week after all electronics larger than cellphones were banned from certain U.S. bound flights, out of intelligence concerns that terrorists associated with ISIS are working to develop ways to use them to smuggle bombs onto commercial jetliners.

Terrorists have acquired some of the equipment used in airport screening to test ways to better hide explosives, intelligence experts believe.

The Department of Homeland Security has declined to comment on the story, but issued a statement saying: "Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in electronics."

"The U.S. government continually re-assesses existing intelligence and collects new intelligence. This allows DHS and TSA to constantly evaluate our aviation security processes and policies and make enhancements to keep passengers safe. To that end, we use a robust security system that employs multiple layers of security, both seen and unseen."