Thread: Found in suitcase at LAX: Smoke grenade, billy clubs, hatchet, body bags, leg irons

Found in suitcase at LAX: Smoke grenade, billy clubs, hatchet, body bags, leg irons ...

By Pete Williams, NBC News

A Massachusetts man has been charged with illegally transporting a smoke grenade in his checked suitcase while returning from a trip to Japan.

Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Yongda Huang Harris, 28, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chinese descent, Friday in Los Angeles. He was flying from Japan, through South Korea and then Los Angeles, on his way to Boston.

What alerted agents to check his suitcase? It might have been the bullet-proof vest or the flame-retardant pants that he was wearing under his trench coat.

According to ICE, a search of his checked bag turned up the smoke grenade as well as "three leather-coated billy clubs, a collapsible baton, a full-face respirator, various knives, a hatchet, body bags, a biohazard suit, handcuffs, leg irons, and a device to repel dogs."

He appeared late Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles. There's no thought he was a terrorist or was plotting to do anything on the various planes he was flying on, a federal official says. But transporting a smoke grenade is illegal.

ICE isn't saying what airline allowed him to begin his journey. Court documents say his trip originated in Kansai, Japan, stopped over in Inchon, Korea, and then in Los Angeles on his way to Boston. A federal official says the Japan to Korea flight was not on a U.S. carrier.

Found in suitcase at LAX: Smoke grenade, billy clubs, hatchet, body bags, leg irons ... - U.S. News

I.C.E.News Release

October 9, 2012
Los Angeles, CA

Boston-bound man arrested at LAX for transporting hazardous materials

Suspect's luggage contained smoke grenade, knives, gas masks, body bags and bio hazard suits

LOS ANGELES — A body-armor-clad Boston man who arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on a flight from Japan Friday is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon on a charge of transporting hazardous materials after a search of his checked luggage turned up a smoke grenade, along with a hatchet, knives, other weapons, a gas mask, biohazard suits and body bags.

Yongda Huang Harris, 28, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chinese descent, was referred for secondary inspection Friday afternoon by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at LAX after CBP officers observed he was wearing a bulletproof vest and flame retardant pants underneath his trench coat.

CBP officers alerted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, who responded and opened a formal investigation after CBP's subsequent search of Harris' checked luggage resulted in the discovery of numerous suspicious items. According to the HSI case affidavit, those items included a pyrotechnic smoke grenade, three leather-coated billy clubs, a collapsible baton, a full-face respirator, various knives, a hatchet, body bags, a biohazard suit, handcuffs, leg irons and a device to repel dogs.

The case affidavit states that when a member of the Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad conducted an x-ray examination of the smoke grenade, it showed the device fell under the United Nations' explosives shipping classification, meaning it is prohibited on board passenger aircraft. Depending on the conditions when it is ignited, the smoke grenade, made by Commando Manufacturers, could potentially fill the cabin of a commercial airplane with smoke or cause a fire.

HSI's probe into Friday's incident is ongoing and investigators here are coordinating closely with HSI's attaché office in Tokyo. Officials say Harris, who makes his permanent home in Boston, has been living and working recently in Japan.

Harris is charged in a criminal complaint with one count of transporting hazardous materials. The charge carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

In addition to the Los Angeles Police Department, HSI received assistance with the case from the FBI.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423 or complete our tip form.

• DHS.gov
• USA.gov

Boston-bound man arrested at LAX for transporting hazardous materials