Printer Ink Bombs? Toner Cartridges Banned on U.S. Flights

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<p><strong><font size=”5″>Printer Ink Bombs? Toner Cartridges Banned on U.S. Flights</font></strong><font size=”4″><br />
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<p><font size=”4″>If you visited your family for the holidays and found your Christmas stockings stuffed with <a href=”http://www.inkpal.com/”>discount printer ink and toner</a>, think twice about taking your new gifts with you on your flight back home. Printer toner cartridges are now officially banned on all U.S. flights. While going through your carry-on luggage and confiscating your shampoo bottles, airport security and the TSA are now also on the lookout for printer ink bombs.</font></p>
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<h2>Terrorist Printer Toner Bombs Found on International Flights</h2>
<p><img src=”http://www.inkpal.com/images/printer-ink-bombs-toner-cartridges-banned-on-us-flights.jpg&#8221; title=”Printer Ink Bombs? Toner Cartridges Banned on U.S. Flights” alt=”Printer Ink Bombs? Toner Cartridges Banned on U.S. Flights” style=”float:right;margin-left:20px;” /> Generally, we only think of printer ink when we go to print a document and find that we need a new cartridge, but airport security personnel across the United States are now viewing printer ink as a very real threat to public safety. In the last couple of years, highly destructive terrorist bombs were discovered and disarmed on flights headed from Yemen to the United States, hidden away inside nothing other than a printer toner cartridge. Linked back to an al Quaeda group, both toner cartridge bombs were outfitted with cell phone detonation devices that allowed for “triggering” from a remote location. Having already exploited other seemingly harmless commodities we use on an everyday basis, terrorists have now set their eyes on toner cartridges in order to threaten national security.</p>
<p>So is there any reason to continue to fear a toner cartridge bomb being smuggled onto your flight? In these two cases, one plane was a UPS cargo jet, while the other was a public passenger aircraft. The plastic explosive PETN was concealed within the chambers of a toner cartridge that can be typically found in a commercial HP-branded printer. One of the most destructive explosives available, 100 grams of PETN can completely demolish a car. Importing and exporting ink and toner cartridges weighing at least a pound will now take on greater significance and scrutiny.</p>
<p>Details of these two printer toner bomb investigations remain top secret, as one might expect when national security is involved. However, some reports suspect that the two bombs may have been terrorist “trial runs” designed to test our security systems for apparent vulnerabilities. Tip-offs from undercover operatives led to deeper searches during interim stops in Dubai and the UK. Investigations later revealed that both bombs found on these Yemen flights were ultimately destined for two different Jewish synagogues in the Chicago area. To curtail these terrorist attempts, UPS has since discontinued commercial service out of Yemen.</p>
<h2>New No-Fly Zone for Printer Ink</h2>
<p>We are already used to having seemingly harmless items confiscated at the security checkpoint, but now the Transportation Safety Administration (“TSA”) has added one more item to its ever-growing list of restricted items. Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, specifics the new restrictions in the following statement: “…Toner and ink cartridges over 16 ounces will be prohibited on passenger aircraft in both carry-on bags and checked bags on domestic and international flights in-bound to the United States….” For the record, these new security guidelines do not apply to small ink cartridges that support small home-based printers, so your <a href=”http://www.inkpal.com/ink-news/top-3-mobile-printers-of-2012/”>new mobile printer</a> should be fine. While this might be an annoyance to passengers who like to stock up on <a href=”http://www.inkpal.com/toner-cartridges.html”>laser toner drums</a> while they’re traveling, this seems like yet another reason it’s a better idea to buy discount printer ink online at eco-friendly suppliers who will ship your ink supplies right to your home for free (if you order more than $50, that is).</p>
<p>We have discussed how 3D printing has been exploited by <a href=”http://www.inkpal.com/ink-news/worlds-first-plastic-3d-printed-gun-sparks-controversy/”>criminals printing plastic guns</a> and <a href=”http://www.inkpal.com/ink-news/3d-printer-keys-can-open-high-security-handcuffs/”>high-security handcuff keys</a> in order to evade justice, so these developments are not altogether surprising. While innovation in the printer industry is generally welcomed, there are always a few bad apples who use breakthroughs in printer technology for criminal purposes.</p>
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January 10, 2013 at 8:45 AM