"Weapons found hidden in carry-on baggage at Ontario, Calif., airport"

Wednesday, August 4, 2004

Weapons found hidden in carry-on baggage at Ontario, Calif., airport
The Inland Valley (CA) Daily Bulletin


ONTARIO, Calif. -- Two men have been arrested at Ontario International
Airport in recent days for possessing concealed weapons in their
carry-on baggage.

Both men were caught by federal airport screeners who detected the
weapons with the airport's X-ray machinery.

Rey Cadagat Alba, 51, of Talladega, Ala. was arrested by airport police
Tuesday morning for having a knife with serrated edges concealed in the
lining of his carry-on luggage, airport security officials said.

Alba, who was preparing to fly on a Southwest flight to Las Vegas, was
booked into the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino.

On Friday, Ontario resident Nathan R. Farrow, 56, was arrested for
having a loaded Derringer handgun and a hunting knife in his carry-on
baggage.

Farrow was also booked into the West Valley Detention Center. 

Federal security officials are finding about one gun a day at airport
checkpoints nationwide, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman with the
Transportation Security Administration. Fines for deadly weapons at
airports can run as high as $10,000, he said.

Those who wish to carry handguns should follow airline guidelines,
Melendez said. They should also check their baggage carefully before
leaving for the airport in case they unwittingly left weapons inside
their bags, he added.

"If in doubt about the objects that you are carrying that might be
considered to be a weapon or might look like one, call your airline
first, and ask if you can take it, or whether you should put it on
carry-on baggage or checked baggage," said Alan G. Hyde, ONT's chief of
Airport Police. "There are different rules for each."


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