Two passengers from a United Airlines’ flight were arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport today following suspicion that they had a mock bomb in a suitcase.
Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi, who is to believed to be from Yemen, and Hezam al-Murisi, whose nationality is not known, were detained at the request of the American authorities, according to reports in the Telegraph.
Al-Soofi had been searched by airport security staff as he boarded a plane in Alabama and found to be carrying $7,000 in cash, said America’s ABC News.
He was allowed to board even though his suitcase was allegedly found to contain a mobile phone taped to a bottle and several other mobile phones and watches taped together.
At Chicago he was joined by Murisi on the flight to Amsterdam. However, Murisi had checked his luggage onto a flight to Yemen, with stops in Washington Dulles and Dubai.
A law enforcement official said the two men may have been carrying mock bombs for ‘a dry run’.
By Linsey McNeill