Bolivia releases US woman detained at airport with ammunition in luggage

[Judi Lynn]

Source: International Herald Tribune/Associated Press

Bolivia releases US woman detained at airport with ammunition in luggage
The Associated Press
Published: June 28, 2007

LA PAZ, Bolivia: An American woman detained at the La Paz airport for entering Bolivia with 500 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition in her luggage was released Thursday and will not face charges, officials said.

Donna Thi Dinh, 20, was detained Wednesday night after airport security found five boxes with 100 bullets each in her luggage upon her arrival from Miami on an American Airlines flight.

Dinh initially declared to customs that she was carrying various types of cheese, but later acknowledged that her luggage also held the bullets, Bolivian Migration Director Magaly Zegarra said.

Dinh was met at the airport by the wife of Col. James Campbell, a military liaison at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Zegarra said. Campbell wanted the bullets for training and sport shooting, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg said during a Thursday news conference at the presidential palace in La Paz.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/28/america/LA-GEN-Bolivia-US.php

[Judi Lynn]

1. Woman takes 500 bullets in luggage

This story is from our news.com.au network Source: Reuters

Woman takes 500 bullets in luggage
From correspondents in La Paz, Bolivia
June 29, 2007

AN American woman was detained in Bolivia after arriving on an American Airlines flight from Miami with 500 bullets in her luggage, the state news agency has reported.
News agency Agencia Boliviana de Informacion (ABI) said the woman, who it identified as Din Dona Thin, 20, had become nervous when taken to have her bags searched on arrival late on Wednesday, telling staff she was only carrying cheese.

"Last night at El Alto airport, a US citizen was intercepted, coming from Miami, on an American Airlines plane, carrying five boxes of bullets, each one containing 100 .45-caliber bullets," ABI quoted national immigrations director Magaly Zegarra as saying.

A Bolivian judge told reporters the American woman had been released because no offense had been committed under the country's laws.

Citing the tight security at US airports, Mr Zegarra said it was "incredible that she was able to pass through with luggage containing five boxes of bullets," ABI reported.
(snip/...)

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21987975-1702,00.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Her friend she was doing the favor for has a fairly conspicuous job at the U.S. Embassy:

UNITED STATES EMBASSY
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA

Principal Officers

Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg
Deputy Chief of Mission Krishna R. Urs
Political/Economic Counselor Andrew S.E. Erickson
Director of Narcotics Affairs Section William P. Francisco
Public Affairs Officer Denise A. Urs

Consular Chief Julie L. Grant
Defense Attaché Col. Richard S. Jackson
Commander, US MILGROUP Col. James A. Campbell
Director of USAID Michael J. Yates
DEA Acting Country Attaché Alex Romero
Peace Corps Director Javier L. Garza

http://www.megalink.com/usemblapaz/english/officers.htm

[David__77]

3. Why was she released?

I don't understand. Was there an investigation? Will there be? Who decided to not take action?

[Judi Lynn]

5. Bolivia is going to continue to investigate this further. I should by god HOPE so!

Dinh was met at the airport by the wife of Col. James Campbell, a military liaison at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Zegarra said. Campbell wanted the bullets for training and sport shooting, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg said during a Thursday news conference at the presidential palace in La Paz.
(snip)

It's just too strange that a military man is having some 20 year old woman working as a mule hauling in additional (unacknowledged, secret) ammunition under the radar, considering there is a movement going on to persuade the wealthy right-wing oligarchy in Santa Cruz, where they've got all the natural gas, etc., to secede from Bolivia, since the majority of Bolivians have been wanting these resources nationalized for a very long time!

I feel there's no choice but to believe the _Bush administration, through various resources is behind this, in the pattern we've seen for decades, in destabilizing governments led by popular leftists.

There has been a lot of rough stuff going on in Santa Cruz, and it really looks like handing their side in the conflict a whole lot of ammunition could only intensify this ugly business.

The reason Bolivia probably didn't have any law against it yet was because they probably had never imagined a-holes would be so stupid as to travel with hundreds of bullets in their luggage. (How did that woman get OUT of THIS country? Wouldn't you think she had special cover to get by with that here?)

I'll be looking for more information on this, also.

[benEzra]

21. No, it's U.S.-legal to fly with ammunition in your checked baggage

How did that woman get OUT of THIS country? Wouldn't you think she had special cover to get by with that here?

No, it's legal to check ammunition through in your checked baggage on U.S. originating flights; you just have to declare it at the ticket counter (same as flying with a gun in your checked baggage, which I've done before). 500 rounds of pistol ammunition isn't a lot; those sound like the value-pack boxes of Winchester target ammo from Wal-Mart, ~$10 each. 5 of them would take up about one fourth of a shoebox. What you can't do is have any ammunition in your carryon or on your person.

.45 is an almost exclusively American caliber, and is one of the most popular competition calibers, but is probably pretty darn hard to come by in Bolivia. Still, failing to declare it wasn't smart; surely there were legal ways to bring it in.

[provis99]

4. hmm...

Imagine if it had been an Arab man trying to get 500 rounds through customs into the U.S., and had initially said he had only cheese. They'd have pulled their guns and plugged him on the spot.

[Judi Lynn]

6. He would have been vaporized! You're so right. Just like that Brazilian man

the cops chased down and shot dead at point blank range in England who had NO weapons!

[formercia]

7. Bolivia is a Narco State

anything going to or from there is suppsed to be gone over with a fine tooth comb..

.45 comes in 50 round boxes mostly. Some premium ammo is in smaller boxes. What brand comes in a 100 round box?

Perhaps it's some of that non-traceable ammo for special jobs. Can't be giving the boys ammo that might be traced back to the Embassy.

[Wiley50]

8. Winchester (white box) or Remington UMC

Walmart sells both at great prices. i buy 40 cal there
even though I buy nothing else at Walmart

they probably couldn't resist the deal either

[formercia]

9. don't shoot pistol much anymore

ever since I sold my .45 Gold Cup, it just isn't the same.

[Wiley50]

18. I don't

I've got the Kel-tec .40 cal Sub2000 folding pistol caliber carbine

And I fucking love the little hole puncher

accurate as hell up to about 50 yards
accurate enough beyond that another 50

[formercia]

20. I have a Marlin 1894 in 357 Mag.

It took me a while to figure out a good load because it turns out the barrel was.358, and with the microgroove rifling, it was problematic. Now i get moa sized groups. Factory ammo shoots about 5 moa.

[High Plains]

23. What's a narco state?

Are you implying that the Bolivian government is controlled by drug traffickers? That would be false.

Does it merit that black propaganda title because they grow drug crops there? Marijuana is America's largest cash crop. Does that make the US a narco state?

[LisaL]

10. Did she get on the plane in US?

With the bullets?
It says she arrived from Miami. Seems some airport screener has some xplaining to do.

[1932]

12. I think the implication is that this is a Pentagon, State or CIA-approved opperations

and if the Homeland Security guy at the Airport in Miama DIDN'T let her through, he would have some explaining to do.

[RantinRavin]

15. As long as it was in checked baggage

There is no problem that I know of.

[northzax]

19. you are correct

there is no limitation, from the TSA, at least, for checking ammo in your baggage.

what I want to know is why didn't the guy at the embassy ship it in the diplo pouch?

[benEzra]

22. No, it's perfectly legal to fly with ammunition in your checked baggage...

Did she get on the plane in US? With the bullets?

It says she arrived from Miami. Seems some airport screener has some xplaining to do.

or an unloaded gun, for that matter, as long as you follow the FAA and TSA rules on the subject; people do that all the time. They didn't say she had the ammunition in her carryon.

Basically, you just declare at the ticket counter that you wish to declare an unloaded firearm and/or ammunition. The airline gives you a tag for you to fill out and attach to the gun, you unlock the case and show them it's unloaded, attach the tag, lock the case (with the tag inside), and your baggage goes into the hold just like any other checked luggage. I've flown with my 9mm before, no problem.

Now, if you accidentally have ammo (or a gun) in your carryon or on your person, you'll get stopped at the security checkpoint and have a lot of explaining to do. But ammo in your checked baggage is perfectly fine, and common. And from the article, it appears it's not illegal in Bolivia, either (it raised eyebrows because she hedged about it on arrival, not because it was illegal, as I read it).

[peacetalksforall]

11. Perhaps the reason for the bullets is true, but the intention towards Bolivia

is despicable. They planted and built bases in Paraguay for their eastern front approach. Bolivia has plenty of earth resources and the U.S. believes the people are peasants and are there for the taking and the ruling. Look at Bechtel - taking their water and selling it back to them. The U.S. policy against the world is not Christian - despite the claims of Mr. Moon and Mr. Robertson. We are no longer going to own and rule this Hemispehre. We are going to have to be a neighbor.

At the same time, the U.S. is 'harvesting' mercenaries from South America. Always something. Always behind the scenes manuevering.

[Vidar]

13. Sounds about right.

[Judi Lynn]

14. More on the Paraguay base near Bolivia, from an article written before Morales was elected:

~snip~
Paraguayan denials that Mariscal Estigarribia is now a U.S. base have met with considerable skepticism by Brazil and Argentina . There is a disturbing resemblance between U.S. denials about Mariscal Estigarribia, and similar disclaimers made by the Pentagon about Eloy Alfaro airbase in Manta , Ecuador . The United States claimed the Manta base was a “dirt strip” used for weather surveillance. When local journalists revealed its size, however, the United States admitted the base harbored thousands of mercenaries and hundreds of U.S. troops, and Washington had signed a 10-year basing agreement with Ecuador .

The Eloy Alfaro base is used to rotate U.S. troops in and out of Columbia, and to house an immense network of private corporations who do most of the military's dirty work in Columbia. According to the Miami Herald , U.S. mercenaries armed with M-16s have gotten into fire fights with guerrillas in southern Columbia, and American civilians working for Air Scan International of Florida called in air strikes that killed 19 civilians and wounded 25 others in the town of Santo Domingo.

The base is crawling with U.S. civilians—many of them retired military—working for Military Professional Resources Inc., Virginia Electronics, DynCorp, Lockheed Martin (the world's largest arms maker), Northrop Grumman, TRW, and dozens of others.

It was U.S. intelligence agents working out of Manta who fingered Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia leader Ricardo Palmera last year, and several leaders of the U.S.-supported coup against Haitian President Bertram Aristide spent several months there before launching the 2004 coup that exiled Aristide to South Africa.

“Privatizing” war is not only the logical extension of the Bush administration's mania for contracting everything out to the private sector; it also shields the White House's activities from the U.S. Congress. “My complaint about the use of private contractors,” says U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsy (D-IL), “is their ability to fly under the radar to avoid accountability.”

The role that Manta is playing in the northern part of the continent is what so worries countries in the southern cone about Mariscal Estigarribia. “Once the United States arrives,” Argentinean Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez commented about the Paraguay base, “it takes a long time to leave.”
(snip)

It is the base's proximity to Bolivia that causes the most concern, particularly given the Bush administration's charges that Cuba and Venezuela are stirring up trouble in that Andean nation.
(snip)

Bolivia in Focus For the Bush administration, however, Bolivia is all about subversion, not poverty and powerlessness.
(snip)

Bolivia has been placed on the National Intelligence Council's list of 25 countries where the United States will consider intervening in case of “instability.”
(snip)

Would the United States try to destabilize Bolivia's economy while training people how to use military force to insure Enron, Shell, British Gas, Total, Repsol, and the United States continues to get Bolivian gas for pennies on the dollar? Quite likely.
(snip)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=HAL20051124&articleId=1322

[damntexdem]

16. Maybe the bullets were a diversion to hide the cheese smuggling.

At least that makes as much sense as the story that Col. Campbell wanted smuggled bullets for sport.

Bolivia might be safer were they to expel Col. Campbell.

[Megahurtz]

17. That's Bizzare!

:wow: