Miami Airport Drama (Monday Edition)

Alejandro Hurtado 

Gawker reports:

When a TACA Airlines agent asked Alejandro Hurtado if he was carrying any hazardous materials, Hurtado joked that he packed dynamite in his luggage.

Hurtado answered that he had dynamite in the baggage, and the ticket agent asked him again if he had dynamite in his bag, and he replied that he did and started laughing, the affidavit said.

"Once the Defendant was told that police were going to be called the Defendant stated that he was joking," the affidavit said.

His pleas didn't work, apparently, and a bomb squad arrived to search Hurtado's bag. After determining there were no explosives, authorities arrested and charged him with falsely reporting a bomb at an airport. Part of the concourse was also evacuated.

"The second level ticketing areas for Avianca, TACA, LAN and Caribbean Airlines, one nearby TSA checkpoint, and the surrounding areas on the first and third levels of Terminal J were evacuated at 12:30 p.m. because of a suspicious passenger and item," said airport spokesman Greg Chin in a statement.

At least one outgoing flight was delayed over an hour, and several international arrivals were also delayed.

What's most interesting about this is that until 1980, TACA was owned by a United States company and had its corporate headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana, even though at the time it primarily operated in El Salvador. I suspect the CIA used the airline as a front and they weren't joking with what they were hauling into El Salvador.