Originally Posted by
RadioGirl
It has been argued that Bad Guys could never carry explosives internally either because it would be toxic (well before they could get to "expulsion") or because the quantity is not enough to be dangerous.
Could someone with medical expertise comment on the typical immediate effects of swallowing 2.5 pounds of heroin without any packaging? I'm guessing it would be toxic or at least lead to unconsciousness, but I'm not a doctor. Seems like packaging into balloons would make all the difference between toxic and not.
As with heroin so with some explosives that would be soluble, the container/packaging matters: as long as the container/packaging "holds" the contraband and doesn't create a fast-acting harmful reaction of its own (whether with bodily fluids and action and/or between the container/packaging and its contents), contraband of this sort can be smuggled without necessarily leading to obvious harm to the transporting person in any (un)timely manner.
Originally Posted by RadioGirl
Could someone with expertise comment on what 2.5 pounds of explosive (solid, powdered) would do to an aircraft? (Spiff, are you there?) Seems to me like it could be a Bad Thing.
Based on the type of explosives amongst other things, a most terrible outcome for a whole plane-full of passenger is indeed possible.
Given the failure of TSA to detect explosives even by technical means capable to detect actual explosives without "trusting" a screener's interpretation of an image and/or a sexual organs' rub down, this situation of drug mules should be taken as yet another indication of why the expensive DHS/TSA dog and pony show is just that: a dog and pony show that is but an expensive government workfare workfarce.
Originally Posted by
msimons
Sticking explosives up there would be expected from the one off type terrorist, but for any planned operation like 911 they would probably get surgeons to implant the device internally. Remove a kidney if you need room, add a lapband, give them a couple weeks to recouperate, and you're in action.
Long before the planners of "any planned operation like 911" would get surgeons to surgically implant an explosive device internally, there's low-hanging fruit of digestive-tract-related orifices used without resorting to any sort of cutting surgery.
Originally Posted by
Spiff
Even less would be needed to take out an aircraft. A sufficient quantity of plastic explosive can be concealed in a body cavity. Since ETP/ETD is not done to passengers in favor of other forms of harassment, one only needs a blasting cap (looks just like a thru-hole capacitor
) and some power (soooo hard to find) to initiate the explosion.
Do you recall anything about the TSA publicly acknowledging anything about their ETD/ETPs being incapable of detecting some types of explosives?