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Police in France have arrested a man who
made a fake bomb threat with the sole purpose of delaying his girlfriend’s
flight, because she was afraid of being late. The caller is
facing a fine of tens of thousands of euros, local prosecutors said on Sunday.
The suspect, 33, placed the call at the
Bordeaux-Merignac regional airport in southwestern France on Thursday. The
threat he passed to the authorities was quite straightforward: “There is a
bomb.”
Police
responded by sealing off parts of the airport, deploying troops, and conducting
thorough searches.
AFP report continues:
After
failing to locate anything, an investigation was launched and the man was
arrested about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Bordeaux.
Following
interrogation, the suspect admitted making the fake threat in order to give his
girlfriend some extra time to get through traffic and reach the airport on
time.
As
for the consequences, the unfortunate caller is facing a fine of up to €30,000
(US$33,000), AFP reported citing French prosecutors. He will be appearing in the
Bordeaux court to argue his case.
Anonymous
calls making fake plane bomb threats have become more and more common in recent
years all over the world, with one of highest incidence being reported in the
US.
American
Airlines has been a particularly hot target. One of the most recent incidents,
which took place in January, caused three planes to be evacuated in Seattle and
Dallas following bomb threats.
Atlanta’s
airport also got its share of false bomb alerts. Bomb squads were sent
in to search two flights back in January.
Moreover,
US shopping malls have also been targeted with unfounded bomb alerts. Just in
March, retail centers in Washington, DC, Florida and Michigan were all
evacuated after anonymous phone threats.
In France, bomb threats are
a particularly sensitive subject for law enforcement in wake of the deadly
Charlie Hebdo attacks, and promises of more terror acts by radical Islamist
groups.
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