At approximately 16:50 London time, yesterday, a 37 year old man was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 by officers from…
At approximately 16:50 London time, yesterday, a 37 year old man was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 by officers from Sussex Police in the north terminal of Gatwick Airport.
The man, a Venezuelan national, had arrived at Gatwick on a BA flight (BA 2048) from Colombia.
On arrival at the airport the man`s luggage was searched and found to contain a suspicious item. The item has been examined by explosives officers and it appears to be a grenade.
The man has been transferred into the custody of the Metropolitan Police Service`s Anti Terrorist Branch officers and is being taken to a central London police station for questioning. The Anti Terrorist Branch is now leading this enquiry.
Gatwick Airport is working closely with Sussex Police and other airport agencies to resolve this as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, three days earlier, on Tuesday 11 February 2003 at approximately 06.00 hrs the police took a number of measures to strengthen security in London. The most visible element of these arrangements was at Heathrow airport. The Metropolitan Police said these measures related to `a potential threat to the capital`.
The heightened arrangements included the use of military personnel in support of the Metropolitan Police. The use of troops is part of a long-standing contingency, authorised by the government, for example during the Provisional IRA terrorist campaign.
The security authorities did not intend to give any further details of the security arrangements and BAA is not in a position to add further information.
Mick Temple, managing director, Heathrow airport said; Safety and security of passengers and staff is our top priority at Heathrow. BAA works extremely closely with the Metropolitan Police on security issues and BAA is co-operating fully with this latest enhancement of security.
We understand that this is a precautionary measure and we would ask passengers to continue to be vigilant and patient in the light of any delays caused by these, or any other additional security measures that may be introduced from time to time.
BAA has strengthened security in recent months in a number of ways, including recruiting hundreds of additional security staff at Heathrow alone. Heightened security levels have remained in place with additional checks on baggage and passengers.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
