http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/11/08/2276399-sun.html
Ports open to terror threat The thousands of international shipping containers landing on North American shores each day are "Trojan horses" for terrorists and drug smugglers, a major port operator is warning. "It is a question of time, in my opinion, that a container will be delivering either a dirty bomb or the goods to help terrorists," Greg Gilbert, senior American vice-president for Hutchison Port Holdings. "Many people say the best delivery system for a dirty bomb might be a truck or a small boat, but to get it across the ocean it has to be in a container." Gilbert's comments came in a submission to the Senate committee on national security and defence. Hutchison Port Holdings is the world's largest operator of container ports. Gilbert said that the vast majority of containers are not inspected. "We feel of all the 53 million containers running through our facility in 2006, each one was a Trojan horse," he said. "We do not know what was in that container. We can only trust what somebody said." Gilbert called on governments to require tougher inspections that would include X-rays, radiation screening and checks for container tampering in order to ensure that weapons aren't being driven up to a port. Based on upgrades Hutchison made to its Hong Kong port, Gilbert estimated the cost of higher security measures to be no more than $20 on a container with contents worth $65,000 to $70,000. TIGHTER REGULATIONS Committee chairman Senator Colin Kenny said Gilbert's comments were remarkable in their candour compared to other port operators. The committee has been pushing for tighter security regulations in Canada and the U.S. Without them, and Mexico, working together to tighten security, ships will simply steer toward the cheapest and quickest port available, he said. Another example of tougher laws might require port workers to go through the same security screenings as airport workers. "The Hells Angels have a better distribution system than FedEx," Kenny said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
