Police and Homeland Security officers at Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty airport are investigating a possible bomb scare involving UPS cargo planes.
UPDATE 3:40 p.m. FRIDAY: President Barack Obama speaking from the White House said Friday afternoon that investigators discovered a “credible terrorist threat” against the United States with explosive material found on two suspicious packages that were bound for the United States from Yemen. The packages were found in Dubai and the United Kingdom.
ALERT UPDATE: Two of the suspicious packages that were intercepted on UPS cargo aircraft were addressed to religious intitutions in Chicago. Synagogues and all religious institutions are warned by the FBI to refuse all unsolicited packages and remain on alert.
A U.S. official got tip of packages headed to synagogues from an international ally. As a result the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago has been put on alert.
‘Sinister’ Device Indicating the Situation Today is Dry Run
Britain’s largest air freight terminal at East Midlands Airport was sealed off after investigators found a suspicious package containing a toner cartridge on a United Parcel Service plane bound for Chicago. At 3:30 a.m. U.K. officials discovered a toner cartridge in a package on the plane had been manipulated and found wires attached to it and white powder. Some pundits considered the events of the day a dry run, but John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, stated that dry runs typically do not involve explosives.
Officials believe the devices that came from Yemen were intended for Chicago synagogues.
The cargo on the plane bound for Chicago did not leave England.
Synagogues in the Chicago area have been warned to be on alert.
The Jewish United Fund/ Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF) is the central philanthropic address of the Jewish community of Chicago and is one of the largest not-for-profit social welfare institutions in Illinois.
Two suspicious devices were discovered package in flight. Both packages originated from Yemen. Additional security packages were also reported.
Three destinations with suspicious packages are identified. Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia and Chicago. The planes en route to Newark and Philadelphia reached their destinations with the suspicious packages. The plane en route to Chicago was held at the East Midlands Airport in England. Another plane that traveled from Yemen to the United Kingdom to Philadelphia, was held from it next destination at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
Of the packages that reached the United States, one package came via London, and one package arrived via Dubai.