|
Plague Doc questioned over Miami Airport scare
A world-famous Texas scientist, who was once charged for smuggling plague bacteria into the U.S., is being questioned by authorities after a suspicious metal canister was found in his luggage at Miami International Airport on Thursday, NBC Miami reported.The discovery in Dr. Thomas Butler's bag triggered a bomb scare, which shut down airport activity overnight. Airport screeners thought the canister resembled a pipe bomb. Security officials said. While no trace of explosives was found, the canister was still sent to an FBI lab for additional tests. He told local police the canister was used for medical testing, and the FBI confirmed it was used to transport dead bacteria samples. My question is, what was in the canister when he went to Saudi? Butler, 70, made headlines when he was arrested in 2003 after the scientist reported 30 vials of plague were missing from his lab at Texas Tech University, according to NBC. He was accused of illegally transporting plague samples, theft, embezzlement and fraud. He was found guilty of exporting the vials, lying to federal agents and stealing research funds. He served approximately two years in jail. Later Butler was acquitted of illegally exporting the plague vials. His story later aired on CBS' 60 Minutes and was called "The Case Against Thomas Butler." FBI Agent Michael Leverock said the suspect, who he did not identify, was being cooperative during a press conference Friday morning. "We don't even know if a crime took place," Leverock said. Sources told NBC that Butler was coming from Saudi Arabia and going home to Texas. He's apparently a professor at Ross University in the Caribbean on a teaching assignment in Saudi Arabia and has beeen released without charge. After seven hours, the airport reopened Friday morning. The incident resulted in four of the airport's six terminals being evacuated. Posted by: 2010-09-03 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=304759 |