Bombs discovered last month at airports in Dubai and the UK were concealed inside printers' cartridges, allowing the concealment of a large amount of explosive and a sophisticated initiation set-up. The packages had originated in Yemen and were destined for Chicago. Both were intercepted and made safe without major incident, however increased security at airports is causing headaches for passengers, airline officials and TSA.
The devices contained 300 to 400 grams of PETN, a stable, odorless plastic high explosive, which is more sensitive than other explosives but requires a primary explosive as a detonator - in this case lead azide. Officials believe the potential explosion would have been catastrophic.
For an indepth analysis of this incident, written up in the Halo-Harbinger Newsletter, Click here.
For safety information about responding to incidents involving IEDs and VBIEDs, Click here.
