Man arrested after suspected hand grenades in carry-on prompt evacuation of Hawaii airport
Hilo International Airport was evacuated on Tuesday after airport officials discovered two items resembling grenades during an X-ray screening.
Hawaii Police arrested a traveler, 41-year-old Akito Fukushima, for first-degree “terroristic threatening.”
TSA agents said they discovered the items around 5.30am local time, while Fukushima passed through security in departures.
Police were called at 5.44am to secure and evacuate the terminal area as a precautionary safety measure.
The department’s bomb squad arrived on the scene and determined the items to be inert grenades.
At 6.45am, police arrested Fukushima of Kanazawa, Japan, and transported him to HPD’s East Hawaii Detention Facility.
Fukushima remains in custody while detectives investigate. The airport resumed operations at 6.50am.
The Hawaii Police reminded the public in a press release that replicas of explosives are prohibited in checked and carry-on baggage.
The TSA has not always managed to prevent travelers from flying with prohibited items in their hand luggage.
Since February, five Americans have been arrested for illegally carrying ammunition from the US to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
In all cases, they apparently accidentally boarded flights at US airports with live rounds in their hand luggage.
The TSA launched a review in May, admitting an “oversight” had occurred, but two months on the TSA said it did not know how the ammo got past security.
Last week Louisiana Rep Garret Graves, chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, told The Independent that it’s concerning that the TSA has no idea how American tourists are managing to take ammo onto flights unnoticed.
