Amid reports that terrorists may try to use surgically implanted bombs to get past security checkpoints, security was expected to be heightened at Los Angeles International Airport and other Southland airports today, May 1, on the one-year anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden.
Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX and airports in Ontario and Van Nuys, issued a statement saying that while no specific threats have been received, “we will continue to maintain vigilance and uphold our constant security posture to ensure the airport and the traveling public are safe …
“LAWA will continue to monitor global events and stay in direct contact with our federal, state and local partners,” the statement said.
Department of Homeland Security officials also said there was no specific threat of an attack.
“We have no indication of any specific, credible threats or plots against the U.S. tied to the one-year anniversary of bin Laden’s death,” DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard told ABC News.
Security has been stepped up at airports in Europe and the Middle East, and U.S air marshals have been deployed overseas in advance of the anniversary of bin Laden’s death, according to news reports from Washington, D.C.
U.S. and European authorities have been warning for the past year that al-Qaida operatives have been working to design non-metal explosives that can be surgically implanted so the carrier can slip unnoticed through airport security.
