Thread: Gang graffiti exposed in Alaska Air jet cargo holds

http://www.king5.com/localnews/inves....340e4092.html

Investigators: Gang graffiti exposed in Alaska Air jet cargo holds

09:48 PM PST on Thursday, February 16, 2006

By SUSANNAH FRAME / KING 5 News

Sparkling blue and white airplanes with the well-known Alaska Airlines logo painted on the side of the jets. This is the company image Alaska Airlines wants you to see.

But the KING 5 Investigators have obtained photos of the inside of some of their planes that the company would never want you to see: image after image of graffiti buried in the bellies of a number of planes where luggage, cargo and animals are loaded.

The pictures show area codes, scratched out symbols, and words that look like they could be related to gangs.

Graffiti experts say is associated with gangs covers some areas of the cargo holds of Alaska Airlines planes.

The internal complaints started surfacing nine months ago. But to date, very little has been done about it.

Is this harmless scribbling or really gang graffiti? We showed our photos to five highly respected gang experts in Arizona, New York, California, and two in the Seattle area. They all came to the same, disturbing conclusion.

"It's definitely gang, and some major gangs are represented there, with some very violent rivalries. No doubt about it," said Richard Valdemar, who started the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department gang unit 33 years ago. He's one of the top gang experts in the country.
"There is some real rivalry going on,â€

What next!?

Given some rudimentary mechanical knowledge, these gangbangers can sabotage control surfaces, landing gear hydraulics, cargo door latches, electrical, etc. From inside the cargo bins, given some tools, such as (well i won't say), they could gain access to control cables and do their dirty work there.

Lotsa questions arise. Who granted these contract gangbangers (employees of Menzies Aviation) security passes to the ramps and other sensitive areas of the airports? Why isn't law enforcement making arrests? Why isn't Alaska Airlines even concerned about vandalism to their aircrafts?

Other things....

Are these gangbangers fuelers? Are they caterers, with access to the inflight food? Are these gangbangers using stolen social security numbers and fake birth certificates to gain employment?

And the list goes on and on.

It is my understanding that they have to go through a security check to work on the ramps.

Hi John,

Yes, we are told that the TSA now has jurisdictional oversight for clearing airport employees. Lots of questions arise, like background investigation breakdowns? Forgeries? Vandals are on the property.

Looks to me like the property is a crime scene.