Bomb materials found on flight from LV; Marine arrested

A U.S. Marine was arrested today at Logan International Airport in Boston after federal airport screeners discovered a gun, bomb-making materials, and ammunition in his checked baggage, the Boston Globe reported.

Officials said the flight originated in Las Vegas. A McCarran International Airport spokeswoman deferred comment to the Transportation Security Administration.

Corporal Justin Reed, 22, of Jacksonville, N.C., was booked on US Airways Flight 877 to Charlotte, N.C., the Globe quoted TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis as saying.

The paper said TSA screeners called State Police at 7:10 a.m. after a screen discovered the following items in his checked baggage: a locked handgun box containing a semi-automatic handgun, a fully loaded gun magazine, several boxes of 9 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition, three model rocket engines containing an explosive mixture, military pull-type fuses, switches, electronics kit boxes with various components, and a hand grenade fuse assembly with detonator.

Reed was charged with possession of an infernal machine and possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of an airport, the report said. He was booked at the State Police barracks at Logan and held in lieu of $50,000 bail. He will be arraigned Tuesday.

Davis told the paper it is legal to have a firearm in checked baggage but it must be declared to security officials. The passenger in this case had not declared the weapon, she said. Davis said all checked baggage on domestic flights is required to be screened by TSA on originating flights. Davis told the Review-Journal it’s unclear how he got through security at McCarran. TSA was “actively investigating” why the gun and explosive materials were not detected during the screening in Las Vegas.