Alleged U.S. gun smuggler schmoozes his way past TSA – guns exported to the UK

Well, isn’t this good to know – all it takes to become an international gun smuggler is a charming smile and a good excuse.

At least, that is the feeling you get when you read about alleged arms dealer Mr. Steven Greenoe. Mr. Greenoe regularly visited gun shows in North Carolina, loaded disassembled semiautomatic weapons in his luggage and flew them to the United Kingdom, where they sold with a handsome profit.

According to U.K. police, the guns were sold to criminal gangs, and one was reportedly used in a recent drive-by shooting. His 9mm Glocks were purchased at gun shows, and sold for as much as $8000, and as many as 60 guns may have been smuggled on commercial flights, with the help of the TSA.

The whole thing is pretty scary – but it gets worse – When Mr. Greenoe was stopped by TSA agents at Raleigh-Durham airport, he simply told them that he was a legitimate arms dealer, and that the guns were “engineering samples”. That is all it takes to get past the people put in charge of our airport security, because he was allowed to board an Atlanta bound plane, and then on to the U.K.

The only upside is that the arms were never carried in his carry-on luggage, but it still makes a mockery of the U.S. security, as U.K. officials now need to ask their U.S. counterparts just how stupid they actually are.

CBS News located his LinkedIn profile – which lists Mr. Greenoe as the CEO of the Jolie Rouge Group, a private security provider.

[Photo: AP]

American Airlines misroutes, loses guns belonging to Israeli PM bodyguards

When a team of bodyguards for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu checked in for their flight from New York JFK to Washington D.C, they followed all the correct procedures – notifying the TSA that their Glock handguns were present in the suitcases, and allowing security staff to seal the bags.

Sadly, correct procedures did not prevent stupidity, because American Airlines misrouted the bags to Los Angeles instead of D.C.

To make matters worse, when they finally retrieved their bags, one of the guns was missing, and is presumed stolen.

A police report was taken for the theft of the gun, and I’m sure the TSA will be working overtime to review security video footage to track down the culprit.

The whole thing makes a mockery of U.S. airport security, which is even more embarrassing, since the Israeli system is considered one of the best in the world.

While the Israelis have mastered the art of profiling and terrorist detection, we can’t even find security staff that can keep their sticky fingers out of luggage containing handguns. Of course, this also means a gun is now missing inside the secure and sterile part of the airport, pretty much defeating all the millions spent on airport X-Ray equipment.

[Photo from Flickr/Smarter’s Photos]