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09-11-2014, 03:52 PM
A FEDERAL police officer is under investigation after a bungled training exercise ended up with a woman leaving Sydney airport with a bomb-laden suitcase.
THE Australian Federal Police (AFP) did not know the suitcase and unarmed explosives were even missing until the NSW woman handed it over to police three weeks later.
She arrived at the airport and was handed a replacement suitcase from an unknown airline's lost-and-found after her bag was damaged during a flight on August 14.
The airline was not aware the replacement bag was lined with 230 grams of plastic explosives and was left in its lost-baggage area for an AFP training exercise.
She left the airport with the bag and discovered the explosives hidden inside it three weeks later, on September 9.
After finding the device, she took it to Cessnock police station in NSW's Hunter region, where officers had to evacuate the building as a safety precaution.
NSW Police tracked the explosives back to the AFP and delivered the training aid to AFP officers at Sydney airport.
The hidden explosives were part of a training exercise for its canine detection unit.
An AFP spokesperson said while it had safeguards in place, they were not followed by the trainer.
The officer is now the subject of an internal investigation.
Sydney Airport Commander Wayne Buchhorn apologised for the breach but said at no time was there any risk to the public.
"The AFP takes this error seriously and the canine instructor who inadvertently left this device behind has been identified and will be the subject of a formal professional standards investigation," Commander Buchhorn said.
"This type of training is essential for our canine teams."
The AFP said training procedures would be reviewed.
The bungle comes as defence agencies prepare to possibly raise the nation's security level to high.
The AFP would not reveal which airline was involved in the incident.
THE Australian Federal Police (AFP) did not know the suitcase and unarmed explosives were even missing until the NSW woman handed it over to police three weeks later.
She arrived at the airport and was handed a replacement suitcase from an unknown airline's lost-and-found after her bag was damaged during a flight on August 14.
The airline was not aware the replacement bag was lined with 230 grams of plastic explosives and was left in its lost-baggage area for an AFP training exercise.
She left the airport with the bag and discovered the explosives hidden inside it three weeks later, on September 9.
After finding the device, she took it to Cessnock police station in NSW's Hunter region, where officers had to evacuate the building as a safety precaution.
NSW Police tracked the explosives back to the AFP and delivered the training aid to AFP officers at Sydney airport.
The hidden explosives were part of a training exercise for its canine detection unit.
An AFP spokesperson said while it had safeguards in place, they were not followed by the trainer.
The officer is now the subject of an internal investigation.
Sydney Airport Commander Wayne Buchhorn apologised for the breach but said at no time was there any risk to the public.
"The AFP takes this error seriously and the canine instructor who inadvertently left this device behind has been identified and will be the subject of a formal professional standards investigation," Commander Buchhorn said.
"This type of training is essential for our canine teams."
The AFP said training procedures would be reviewed.
The bungle comes as defence agencies prepare to possibly raise the nation's security level to high.
The AFP would not reveal which airline was involved in the incident.