ATLANTA —
He’s accused of helping to put 18 firearms on a plane at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Channel 2 Action News is the only station to get a hold of the criminal complaint before federal court closed within the past hour.
In a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit obtained only by Channel 2 Action News, we learned that agents believe a current employee working in Atlanta helped another man smuggle the guns onto a flight.
The affidavit names Eugene Harvey, a bag handler, as the suspected smuggler who was a Delta employee.
The flight originated from Hartsfield Jackson International Airport and went into New York’s JFK airport on Dec. 10, the complaint states.
via Delta employee charged with helping smuggle guns onto plane | www.wsbtv.com.
I wish I could lay my hands on the affidavit because the story does not make sense the way it is written. Anybody who has done air travel with firearms knows that other than the restrictions imposed by the airline if any. Checking on Delta’s website, they allow you to check in up to five sidearms per case with no apparent limit on the number of cases other than you are paying for excess baggage. Why bother to take them as carry-on? I know you have to declare them, but other than the bored TSA agent making sure they are unloaded and properly cased, nothing else gets done.
Me thinks some bad guys watched too many movies.
And now, the rest of the story…
A current employee was helping a former employee to bypass TSA and baggage inspections and loading the firearm filled bags directly on the plane. In cargo, not carry on.
It seems that Channel 2 Action News is more interested in bragging that they got their hands on the complaint than actually reporting on the story.
“Henry allegedly told investigators that he had flown from Atlanta to New York with the 18 firearms and ammunition in his carry-on bag.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/feds-bust-alleged-delta-airlines-gun-smuggling-ring/story?id=27777273&utm_content=bufferf7659&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
What caught my eye was [quote]The complaint alleges that the undercover officer was supplied a total of 129 guns, including and AK 47 and an AR 15.[/quote]
Is the FBI runing its own Operation Gunrunner?
stay safe.
Is this another fast & stupid by ATF handing guns to criminals to smuggle and loose track of on the streets of NY?
I think Greg might be into something. I just saw on the news the Fed let these two guys run the 129 guns over a substantial period of time. You don’t need but maybe 20 to make an ironclad-you are screwed forever case.
There is something else going on.
Was this an effort to inflate the numbers for the “iron pipeline” bs? Looks that way to me. I wonder how long it took them to find someone that…ahem…gullible… to be the patsy,
So how come the lead agency wasn’t the ATF? Aren’t they the ones that are supposed to stop illegal gun smuggling?
Why fly them to start with? It’s about 12-15 hours from Atlanta to NYC by car.
FYI this story is now a big national news story. I heard it on the local morning news cast here in MN (WCCO).
Already talked to you about it. Considering my occupation…this has red flags all over it.