Men With Concealed Knives and Razor Blades Arrested at Georgia Airport

November 1, 2007

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TSA makes second “catch” in two days.

Authorities are investigating why two men, both Indian Nationals, tried to sneak knives and other weapons onto a flight from Atlanta to New York.

One of the men even made it through security and onto the Delta Air Lines flight. Both have been charged with state violations of carrying concealed weapons, according to an Atlanta police report.

FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett said Thursday federal agents interviewed the two men through an interpreter and determined the incident was not terrorism related. He declined to explain why the men had the knives. Federal authorities did not press charges and the case is being handled by local officials, Emmett said.

Authorities surrounded Chhaganbhai Patel, 60, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Oct. 25 after he was found with a number of knives including a martial arts-style knife.

“The knife was a large Chinese-style fighting knife,” Atlanta police Lt. Jim Corlino told Atlanta television station WAGA. “It opened on both ends and it had blades that opened on both ends.”

Authorities also found 20 small knives wrapped in tin foil. And upon searching Patel’s bag three more times, they found razor blades hidden in the battery compartment of a toy car.

“It was an intentional concealment,” Corlino said.

Shakarabhai Patel, 64, who was traveling with Chhaganbhai Patel had already made it through security and onto the flight, which was bound for New York and then to India. Officials did not immediately indicate the relationship between the two men.

Authorities could not immediately provide the men’s citizenship.

The plane was brought back to the gate and police said they found a box cutter and $5,000 cash in the second man’s bag.

Jon Allen, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said the arrests illustrate the agency’s practice of having multiple layers of security.

“One of those layers is professionally trained officers who through their questioning identified the travel companion,” Allen said. “The travel companion was removed from the flight and rescreened and that’s when that box cutter was identified.”

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