Fwd: U.S. Agents Not Part of Tijuana Airport Plan

--- Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 23:28:02 -0800 (PST)
> From: Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: U.S. Agents Not Part of Tijuana Airport
> Plan 
> To: airport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> U.S. Agents Not Part of Tijuana Airport Plan 
> San Diego Union Tribune, CA
>  
> January 11, 2004 
> 
> Although Tijuana International Airport beefed up its
> security last year, no U.S. agents have been
> stationed
> at the airport, which is adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico
> border and 17 miles from downtown San Diego. 
> 
> With only one flight to the United States a day,
> Tijuana International Airport isn't adding to the
> security upgrades it implemented during 2003, the
> facility's director said. 
> 
> At the Mexico City airport, stepped-up measures in
> the
> past few weeks have created a public uproar. 
> 
> Among the most contentious aspects of the new
> security
> measures are U.S. requirements that certain flights
> to
> the United States carry armed marshals, and that
> flights be canceled or delayed when intelligence
> reports indicate terrorists plan to commandeer
> planes.
> 
> 
> Two AeroMexico flights from Mexico City to Los
> Angeles
> have been canceled since Dec. 24. And Mexico has put
> armed, undercover federal police on flights to
> several
> U.S. destinations. 
> 
> The security measures have drawn criticism from
> politicians, clergy and human rights leaders, who
> say
> the United States is infringing on Mexico's
> sovereignty. The Mexican Attorney General's Office
> launched a formal investigation last week into
> whether
> terrorists plan to use Mexican flights to launch an
> international attack. 
> 
> However, Tijuana International Airport has not
> become
> embroiled in the controversy. 
> 
> "We have been working here under normal levels,"
> said
> airport director Guillermo Villalba Morales. 
> 
> In early December, Villalba said, two U.S. agents
> visited the airport to review procedures with
> Mexicana, which operates the only international
> flight. The flight leaves Tijuana for Los Angeles at
> 11:05 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays. 
> 
> Some security experts have raised concerns that a
> dozen Canadian and Mexican airports close to the
> U.S.
> border could serve as launching pads for terrorist
> acts. The Tijuana airport has 140 flights daily. 
> 
> Tijuana International Airport stepped up security
> last
> year by installing state-of-the-art security
> equipment
> to screen passengers and baggage, as part of a $25
> million renovation and expansion project, Villalba
> said. 
> 
> He said recent news reports that an abandoned
> suitcase
> had set off security concerns were wrong. "It was
> part
> of training for our security groups," Villalba said.
> "It was a simulation." 
> 
>  
> 
> 

 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dc/dcboard.php

*****************************************