Port Of Long Beach Bomb Threat
9/11 Anniversay Bomb Threat To Port
September 11, 2006
Posted September 03, 2007
Authorities investigated Pier 300 at the Port of Los Angeles Monday morning after receiving an anonymous bomb threat, which was later determined to be a hoax.
According to Sgt. Bob Chacon of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Station, the LAPD, Long Beach Police Department, Port Police, U.S. Coast Guard and port security worked together to carefully check the area.
Authorities concluded that no bomb had been planted, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. P.J. Jacquelin.
Jacquelin said the caller made threats around 11:30 p.m. Sunday night and spoke with a Middle Eastern accent. The caller said the bomb would explode in three hours and would target the American President Lines Container Terminal.
The search was called off about 3:30 a.m., he said.
Approximately 480 ships arrive each month at Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors. Of those ships 50 to 60 are boarded and searched by Coast Guard maritime security teams before docking.
After ships arrive in port, about 6 percent of the containers and luggage they carry are selected to be scanned on the docks with X-ray machines and radiation detectors. Then about 6 percent of those are selected to be unloaded for secondary inspection at customs facilities.
There are five x-ray machines to screen for harardous substances in Los Angeles and Long Beach. They screen a small selection of the millions of containers that come through the port each year.
In 2007, there has been a rash of bomb threats against retail stores that demanded a ransom or employees and the store would be harmed. Some of those phone calls were made by persons with a middle east accent. It is suspected the phone calls came from abroad, and police say it will be almost to track those off international calls. Some of those ransoms have been paid to bank accounts, but police are not saying what countries those bank accounts are in.
