Add this to the long list of reasons I don’t like cruises:
A package that was going to be loaded onto a cruise ship at the Port of Miami tested positive for plastic explosives Monday, the Coast Guard said.
The package was tested six times and each time it came back positive for C4, said Petty Officer James Judge.
The package was destroyed, and a Miami-Dade County police bomb squad was inspecting the remains to determine if there were any explosives inside.
Yikes. But the cops don’t sound so sure:
Police spokesman Bobby Williams said the instruments used to test the package sometimes give false positives.
“We still need to check it out,” Williams said.
Six false positives in a row sounds a bit far-fetched to me, but we’ll see how this plays out.
UPDATE: Looks like a false alarm:
Authorities later determined it was harmless.
The package was then destroyed, and a Miami-Dade County police bomb squad determined it contained sprinkler parts, said Zach Mann, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Miami.
This still doesn’t answer two important questions:
- Why was there C4 residue? or
- Why are the tests so unreliable that they’ll return six false positives in a row?
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If it was a pregnacy test that gave 6 false positives in a row and was considered possibly wrong, it would be pulled off the market. So if there is a chance this was wrong and they blew up someones stuff for no good reason?
New policy: Blow it up first, then ask questions. So what if you destroy evidence or you don’t find out where it came from or who made it, you kept it from blowing up the ship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkfShqOUyAU
#3
CRK
ROFL. That was so hilarious. Two of my favorite shows, I don’t care what Matt says, I want to go on the ship with J.L.Picard.
This is a real confidence builder.
Just how does a package of sprinkler parts test positive for C4 six seperate times?
Either the test is suspect or someone deliberatley contaminated a package with C4 residue to mess with the system.
For those that do not know C4 is a military explosive and to possess it without a explosives license would be highly illegal in the United States.
The explosive field test units and kits don’t detect explosive themselves, they look for compounds that make up the explosives. In the case of C4 they most likely detected traces of nitrates, which would be expected on sprinklers (fetilizer e.g.) Also anyone with heart trouble that is wearing a nitroglycerine patch would set off one of the air puff units now being put in use.
Interesting information Argus.
Argus
First: new sprinkler parts would not yet have come in contact with Fertilizer.
Second: They said the package tested positive for C4, not nitrates which are found in many compounds including fertilizer and gunpowder.
Third: had a package just tested positive for nitrate test, they would have examined the package, not destroyed it. The nitrate detection device which is also used by many airports goes off with some regularity and would not cause the level of concern seen with this package without addition examination.
Hotdogs have nitrites, I think. I know I had some jalapeno-stuffed hotdogs that made me kinda explosive the next day. I wonder if it’s related.
especially the hot dogs laced with the incendiary chili sauce. they can be quite explosive.
CRK
I doubt that C4 would even be detected by a nitrate test. There are chemical markers added to C4 for the purpose of detection and is probably why the package was said to test positive for C4 and not as an explosive device.
I doubt that a positive test for nitrates would have caused any real concern until an examination of the package actuallly confirmed an explosive presence.
I have to test my aquarium every so often for nitrates among other things. The next time I get a positive reading, I am not going to mess around. I will just shoot a hole in the tank. No need to take chances.
Please everyone stopppppppp I cannot stop laughing.
And to think that when I was a boy, I “side dressed” corn with 33% Ammonium Nitrate, by hand, out of a 5 gallon bucket! This was the same thing that McVeigh used, mixed with diesel fuel. For you city-slickers, this means throwing the fertilizer as close as you can get to the corn stalk without touching it, don’t want to burn the tender vegetation, don’ch’ know.
BTW; At the end of the day most of the skin on my palms would be gone, and I had heavy calluses, this was the only thing that I know of that would remove them! HUMMM,…there’s gotta be a use for this in the plastic surgery field! Dang Dave What an Idea!
Another cruise mystery…I am not going to go on a cruise ever.
#5;
Is there a difference in “highly illegal” and illegal?
Apparently undocumented workers (code word for illegal aliens) are just illegal.
If they were “highly illegal” the ACLU (code word for hated slimy communist bastar@s) would’nt have files a law suit against the Rhoad Island state Police for handing over to the INS a van load of (code word) from south of the (wide open) borders.
If the State police would have considered them “highly illegal” and just blown up the van, there would have been no evidence and the Police would be in much less trouble.
Some poor Police officer will probably be sent to prison for violating the (code word)’s civil rights.
rj
trl3, You are most likely right about the nitrates, but it is a short article and the press is notorious for getting the science wrong, so the reporter may not have understood what the Coast Guardsman was telling him about the test, or he may have been hyping the story. As for blowing up the package, I don’t think bomb squads do much poking around with suspect boxes, they just blow them up with a small charge and see what happens.
I’ll tell you how you can get six false positives in a row for C4. It’s because there is indeed C4 residue on the package. It’s what terrorists do. Test the system. I’ve been suspecting for a long time now that the next big attack will be either the simultaneous sinking of cruise ships out of American ports or bombing stadiums full of spectators perhaps with their favorite fuel filled airliners. Call me paranoid if you want, but this fight is nowhere near over and remember that the next one will top 911 in surprise and scope.
This will not stop me from going on any cruises in the future. While I detest the cheap poorly done shows they always feature on cruises, and don’t bother with gambling, to go on a cruise with a bunch of partying friends is a blast. It’s also a cheap way to briefly scope out some of the destinations for future fly-in, stay-there-in-on-land-lodging vacations.