Communications gap allowed packet bomb to go unchecked

while it was being transported through German territory” and “was therefore unable to properly control the package.”

“In effect, it allowed the package to pass through Germany without any security checks,” .Diehl and Gebauer write.

The parcel was detected thanks to a tip-off from the Saudi Arabian intelligence service, which contacted the liaison officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) late on Thursday night, saying they had evidence of a package containing a bomb and providing the numbers of both packages.

When this information reached Germany at around 3:00 am on 29 October, the suspicious package had already moved on. It was then found and deactivated at the UPS facility in England.

A professional job

According to the British police, the bomb was apparently intended to detonate as the plane flew over the United States.

German investigators, who also sent a team to England, believe the bomb would have caused a large explosion. Security experts are certain that the explosive device was the work of professionals. They said that even experts working for the Federal Criminal Police Office who examined x-ray images of the bomb, did not identify the explosive device at first glance.

The bomb seized by British investigators was a cleverly built one. The terrorists had filled part of a plastic medical syringe with up to five grams of lead azide, an explosive mass which is also used in military detonators. The 400 grams of PETN were imbedded in white powder inside a printer toner cartridge. A broken light diode was also placed inside the lead azide, connected to a mobile phone circuit board and a battery.

According to research conducted by the BKA, the device was designed to explode when the mobile phone sounded a previously set alarm. The diode would then light and warm, thus igniting the lead azide, which would in turn set the PETN on fire — a potentially deadly chain reaction.

British criminal investigators found that the explosive PETN was of “an extremely high concentration.” Its manufacturers in Yemen would require “logistics that only state facilities should have access to,” according to the German investigators’ dossier.

Serious lack of controls

British investigators, in their initial findings, said the explosion would have been a “supersonic blast.” It would have ripped through the side of the plane, triggering its crash. Even if the attack had only killed a few people, it would have sent out a strong signal, according to one analysis.

This newly uncovered gap in German security shines a light on air freight controls which, until now, have been lax. Customs officials at the Cologne-Bonn Airport report that, in practice, attempts to identify suspicious packages on freight lists often lead nowhere.

In more than one-third of cases, there are no controls, despite customs’ suspicion, the sources said. One resigned official described how the packages are often “already up in the air,” when the officials want to check them.

Diehl and Gebauer write that for experts in security agencies, this case is just another example of the loopholes in air freight inspections. Experts also warn that the explosives were so professionally hidden that customs officials may not have discovered them, even if the checks had been carried out. Despite this, the sources said, the security gap remains unacceptable.

It remains to be seen whether action will be taken as a result of the embarrassing mistake. When queried by the reporter, UPS said customs had first asked the company to carry out further checks on 29 October, by which time the freight had already been transported on to England. The company said it would review its procedures and declined to comment further.

In a statement, the Finance Ministry said that “a complete physical inspection of all freight transport” was “impossible” due to the sheer volume. The ministry added that the “so-called security risk analysis” which was made apparent by the Yemeni package, “would be comprehensively expanded, especially given the available facts and the possibilities for analysis.”