Calif. airport shut after traces of explosive found on bag, but material turns out to be honey
By APTuesday, January 5, 2010
Bottles of honey cause Calif. airport shutdown
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Authorities say the suspicious material inside luggage that prompted the shutdown of a California airport turns out to be five soft drink bottles filled with honey.
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood says the bottles, found inside a checked bag at Bakersfield’s Meadows Field, had tested positive for traces of an explosive.
Youngblood says investigators are trying to determine whether there was something in the honey or on the bag that caused security alarms to go off shortly before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
They have been questioning the bag’s owner, 31-year-old Francisco Ramirez, a gardener from Milwaukee who says he flew to Bakersfield to spend Christmas with his sister.
The discovery of the suspicious material halted flights to and from the airport. Two security officers reported feeling ill after being exposed to the bottles.
