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Airport Crime Increases Chances of Airport Terror

The Globe and Mail - December 12, 2008


By Colin Kenny


Eight years ago two hijacked airliners slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, killing more than 2,700 innocent people and ending the illusion that North America was a safe haven in the war against international terrorism.

 Six years ago the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence issued a report titled The Myth of Security at Canada’s Airports. 

One of the key observations of that report was this: while by 2003 airport security had been tightened at passenger inspection – where it was most visible to the public – it remained flimsy behind the scenes. Most notably, ground crews were not being scrutinized with anything like the rigour applied to passengers.

Yesterday’s Globe and Mail reported that an RCMP investigation has revealed that airport security in Canada is still about as porous as Swiss cheese. And if that doesn’t rattle most Canadians, they should think long and hard about the recent events in Mumbai and recognize that impending terrorists incidents in our country aren’t about if, they’re about when. That assessment is not alarmist; it’s about being grown up.

The report cited yesterday summarized the findings of the RCMP’s Project Spawn – a strategic assessment of criminal activity and organized crime infiltration at Canada’s Class 1 airports in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

Project Spawn identified fifty-eight organized crime groups “working within or utilizing the eight Class 1 airports.” Seventeen organized crime groups had “members or associates employed at six of the Class 1 airports.” 

The report said that Project Spawn had been able to identify 298 current or former airport employees (out of 88,389) who were involved in airport crimes, most of them smuggling cocaine. 

In some cases, the report points out, “the interior of the aircraft was tampered with in order to conceal the drugs, causing potential safety risks to unsuspecting passengers.”

It has been well documented that much international terrorism is funded by drug smuggling. And, as the report points out, airport security gaps for criminals means airport security gaps for terrorists. 

When our Senate committee started identifying security problems at Canadian airports, the airport establishment was aghast. The then head of the Toronto Airport Authority scolded us that “Loose lips sink ships” – a wartime expression that suggested that by pointing out security deficiencies we were encouraging criminals and terrorists to take advantage of them. As if there weren’t all kinds of other ways for troublemakers to identify the holes that were obvious to every airport employee.

With this report, the RCMP clearly recognizes that the gaps aren’t going to get filled unless politicians and the public have a clear understanding of the enormity of the problem.

Here are some of the weaknesses that persist.

Employees moving into secure areas are checked only randomly – one in 50 times, according to Transport Canada’s own testimony. And they never get checked when leaving. Employees have bragged to me about how easy it is to circumvent searches. Passengers get scrutinized rigourously. This report screams what we have been saying all along: airport employees should pass through security – every time – coming and going. 

Transport Canada brags about employee passes finally being biometric, but the passes are still not based on geo-fencing. They should be. If they were, employees would only have access to areas in which they are authorized to work, at times they are scheduled. Otherwise, alarms would go off.

Background checks on airport employees are inadequate. Our committee recommended new checks every three years instead of five, with additional information gathered on employment history, personal problems or changes in lifestyle. No red flags now appear unless employees have been persons of interest to security agencies.

Caterers and other service vehicles still get to aircraft with relative impunity. Trucks with familiar company logos on them usually get waived through without passes getting checked.

These are just a few of the holes that haven’t been closed. I saw them up close as recently as three months ago at Pearson Airport, where I was directed to the juncture of two conveyer belts – one with luggage destined for customs (and possible customs searching), and one destined for a domestic carousel. The ground was littered with tags directing bags to customs. They had been replaced with tags directing those bags to domestic. One or more of the 298 employees the RCMP has fingered as corrupt probably did that.

Some crooked employees have been apprehended and charged, but our airports (and seaports) are woefully under-policed. I have had eight meetings with the last three transport ministers – Conservative and Liberal – trying to get them to take airport security seriously. So far, no dice.

Transport Canada is in charge of airport security. But the department’s primary mandate is to move people and goods in an efficient way, which too often means skimping on security, rather than strengthening it.

One paragraph in the Project Spawn report helps demonstrate this point:

“Certain information about airport employees that would have been useful in identifying potential criminality . . .was not provided by Transport Canada. This (report) would have benefitted from data related to the percentage of employees with criminal records and the nature of offences . . .”

Another paragraph points to Transport Canada’s indifference to the security gaps that allow smuggling to take place. It quotes a senior airport authority executive as saying “Unless criminal activity is interfering with aviation business, it’s just another package.”

Some day, something is going to blow up at one of these airports. The RCMP knows it. Even the Senate knows it. Now you know it. Let your favourite politician in on this great big open secret.

Colin Kenny was Chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence in the last Parliament. He can be reached via email at kennyco@sen.parl.gc.ca