Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon has commented publicly on an airport bag tag scheme in which airport employees have been allegedly using unsuspecting travellers as drug mules.
He was challenged by Conservative MP Dan Albas in committee testimony this week, who asked: “How is it that people right now are being detained, arrested, and then caught up in the CBSA system forevermore for something they didn’t do? It is your responsibility to make sure bad people can’t get those jobs and stay in those jobs.”
MacKinnon responded by saying that credentials for airport workers are revoked on a regular basis. “We have a constant system of ongoing revocation of credentials,” he said.
“Many of the people who were the objects of interest in the recent television report all had their credentials revoked.”
He added: “The system that we implement requires us to assess the risk to aviation safety. I’ve asked my officials to examine whether that is an appropriate test,” and said that his officials have gone “very deep” in their review of the system.
But when pressed on specific measures he has taken in response to the scam, MacKinnon was unable to provide an example.
“What one concrete measure have you done beyond talk to your officials?” Albas asked.
MacKinnon responded by saying that “these are very intricate and delicate interconnected systems” and that he wasn’t going to do anything “rash.”
“But I can tell you that in federal transportation infrastructure, security is something that preoccupies me,” he said.
It’s been two weeks since a CTV News investigation revealed a widespread criminal operation involving airport workers swapping passengers’ luggage tags onto suitcases loaded with drugs.
The report found that at least 17 passengers on flights out of Canada were detained on drug smuggling allegations in the past year as a result of the scam.
In instances where the drug shipments were discovered by foreign customs officials, the innocent passengers whose names appeared on the luggage were arrested.
In one such case , RCMP officers were called after the Canada Border Services Agency found 33 kilograms of cannabis in each checked bag of two German citizens scheduled to depart on a commercial flight from Toronto to Germany.
The RCMP arrested the pair, but each denied ownership of the luggage. Investigators then found that an Air Canada employee working in the baggage room had allegedly placed luggage tags bearing the passengers’ names onto suitcases that contained cannabis. Both passengers were released, and the Air Canada worker was arrested and charged.
National Post previously spoke to Mitesh Shah, CEO of Ontario-based professional security company Empire Protection , about steps airports can take to prevent similar incidents in the future.
He said that he would like to see more screening of airport personnel. “Airport employees don’t go through the same scrutiny that travellers do,” he commented.
Meanwhile, a security expert interviewed by CTV for its investigation said that workers in secure baggage areas should wear body cameras and be prohibited from carrying personal cellphones while on duty.
When it comes to passengers protecting themselves, Shah recommended taking pictures of personal luggage before it’s checked in at the airports and adding a ribbon or something else unique to make each bag stand out.
Such measures could help travellers demonstrate ownership if authorities mistakenly link them to a different suitcase.
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