Fireworks Come To ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± On Passenger Jets ‘Almost Daily’
Shipments of illegal fireworks sent via the U.S. Postal Service have been seized on commercial flights.
Illegal fireworks are being transported to ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± on passenger airplanes on an “almost daily” basis, challenging the presumption that explosives only come here inside shipping containers and raising the specter of a mid-flight explosion, a top state law enforcement official said Tuesday.
Law Enforcement Director Jordan Lowe told lawmakers that officers have intercepted packages of fireworks weighing up to 200 pounds that were shipped through the postal system via commercial airlines.
In the aftermath of the New Years Day explosion that has killed four and injured dozens, a state fireworks task force reported it had seized more than 200,000 pounds of illegal fireworks in the last year-and-a-half. Most of the seizures came during tariff inspections of shipping containers at ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± ports.
As lawmakers now debate how to respond to the tragedy, the revelation of explosives riding on commercial flights spotlighted a new element of public danger, as well as the difficulties law enforcement face in stopping illegal shipments.
“Is this something we should be losing sleep over?” Sen. Karl Rhoads asked during a hearing Tuesday.
“I would be concerned,” Lowe said.
“It’s a bad day if you have fireworks going off in the cargo hold of your plane”
±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± Law Enforcement Director Jordan Lowe
Rhoads referenced the infamous in 1988 that took down a Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all aboard. Explosives were hidden in a cassette player that exploded at the front of the cargo hold.
Whether aerial fireworks could take out an airplane depends on several factors, Lowe said, including the location of the explosion, the luggage around the fireworks and how many fireworks are in a cargo hold.
“It’s a bad day if you have fireworks going off in the cargo hold of your plane,” he said.
The department’s firework seizure cases are still under investigation, Lowe told lawmakers. So far, no criminal charges have been filed related to the 227,000 pounds of fireworks the department seized. Separately, two men on OÊ»ahu have filed no contest pleas to felony fireworks charges that resulted from the department’s investigations.
Prosecutions in fireworks cases are rare, despite the amount of illegal aerials fired every New Year’s Eve and a statewide ban on display fireworks in place since 2000.
Investigators look at shipping documents to see how shipments of fireworks were paid for, the intended recipients in ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± and the shippers on the mainland, Lowe told lawmakers.
Finding and prosecuting the kingpins of illicit fireworks networks is one of the top priorities of the state Law Enforcement Department, the agency said in a recent report. It is asking lawmakers to create and fund a dedicated explosives unit.
Currently, two narcotics investigators handle the fireworks cases part time. The departmentʻs proposed new unit would be staffed by five full-time investigators along with several assistants and clerical workers, Lowe said.
The department also wants to expand its forensic laboratory to include analysis of explosives. That’s expected to cost $2 million.
Currently, the department sends seized explosives to the Honolulu Police Department’s lab for testing. But officials worry that fireworks cases could bog down that lab, which is the only one of its kind in the state. Lowe said the department could complete cases quicker if it had its own lab.
The department is also looking at acquiring a scanner capable of detecting fireworks in shipping containers. Those scanners could expedite container searches, which could placate shipping companies that have often raised objections over fireworks enforcement proposals that could slow down the distribution of goods.
Lowe said that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a scanner but only uses it on shipments coming directly to ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± from foreign countries.
