Statement By Secretary Jeh C. Johnson On Airport Baggage Handlers Charged With Conspiracy To Transport Drugs

Statement

I commend the work of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service to bring criminal charges against 14 baggage handlers and co-conspirators, for circumventing TSA checkpoints and illegally transporting drugs across the country.

As I announced last month, TSA is directing additional steps to promote security at U.S. airports. These measures followed the 90-day Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC) comprehensive review and recommendations that were conducted at my request. These directly address the screening and vetting of all airport-based employees. Among the steps is a requirement for fingerprint-based Criminal History Records Checks every two years for all Security Identification Display Area badge holders at airports, and encouraging detection and reporting of threat activity.

I have also directed TSA to continue analyzing the recommendations of the ASAC report, and identify additional measures for future implementation. Working together, I am confident we will prevent similar incidents and further ensure the integrity and security of our aviation system.

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