American Held Over Bullets In Luggage In Bolivia

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

American Held Over Bullets In Luggage In Bolivia
October 20, 2007

An American woman was briefly detained in Bolivia after arriving on an American Airlines flight from Miami with 500 bullets in her luggage, the state news agency reported.

News agency 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 on Thursday because no offense had been committed under the country's laws.



Read more: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1192837085.html

[robinlynne]

1. damn. How the hell did that suitcase get through security? (rhetorical question)

[ManiacJoe]

10. Boxed ammo is fine in checked luggage. (n/t)

[Ken Burch]

2. Y'know, I've HEARD somewhere that if you leave cheese in your luggage too long

it turns into bullets.

:sarcasm:

[frogcycle]

3. well maybe not in your luggage

but I've heard it can 'bind you up' - then you sh*t bullets

[monktonman]

4. Is that what they mean when the shooter says

"I'll make swiss cheese outta ya." ?

[Peace Patriot]

5. They let her go? I would sure like to know the political affiliations of the

judge and the law enforcement and customs officials who did that. Bolivia would have a legitimate interest in who those bullets were from, and who they were going to. They've got a lot of rightwing troublemakers--rich landowners, and rightwing paramilitaries--operating in the resource-rich rural states, trying to split those states off from the central government, so that Bolivia's poor, which is concentrated in the cities, do not benefit from the oil, gas and other resources, under socialist Evo Morales' government. Law or no law, I hope they found that out, and confiscated the bullets--or at least put a tail on her, to find out where she was going. They seem much too blase about this large cache of bullets from Miami, where rightwing politics and gangsterism is so rife.

[Pavulon]

7. 100 is irrelevant

a very good decision. You could shoot 100 rounds in about 5 minutes from a single pistol.

Probably forgot they were in the bag.

I am sure they will watch her.

[Peace Patriot]

8. Forgot they were in the bag? I think that's unlikely with today's passenger flight rules

and paranoia about hijackers. Possible, but unlikely. And it was 500 bullets, not 100. Who would need that many bullets for personal protection? And why did she lie about it, and say she was just carrying cheese? And what the hell happened with airport security in Miami? This latter question was raised in the part of the article not posted here. A Bolivian official said that the lapse of security in Miami was "incredible."

[Pavulon]

9. That is 5 winchester white boxes

Pretty sure they sell 45 in hundred round boxes

500 rounds of pistol ammunitions is not militarily significant. However she is lucky she did not fly to mexico, as that is very serious there.

You can shoot 500 rounds at the range in an hour or so.

One box would fit in your hand.

However it has no place in her bag. While not a threat to bolivia it clearly points out problems with OUR security.

[Skink]

6. Meanwhile 10 Blackwater personel leaving Iraq walk on through.