Muslim Carting Pipe Bomb on Plane Detained, Then Freed to Fly Again

A Muslim man, 43, who was arrested on suspicion of terrorism at a U.K. port for boarding a Ryanair airplane with a pipe bomb in his carry-on bag, was shortly after freed – and allowed to get on another flight to go to Italy.

Nadeem Mulhammed was recently caught red-handed with “batteries wrapped in brown tape” found in his bag, the Irish Independent reported. But he told police the device had been put there by someone else, and after a short detention, he was allowed to go on his way.

What’d he do?

From the Irish Independent:

“[I]n the meantime, tests revealed it was a ‘viable device’ containing sufficient explosives to cause ‘serious damage and loss of life’ on a plane, the court heard.

“Mr. Muhammed was arrested on his return back to the UK at Manchester Airport on Sunday and charged with being in possession of an explosive substance.

“He had been boarding a Ryanair flight to Bergamo, Italy when he was held under the UK’s Terrorism Act following a security screening.

“The device found consisted of a ‘small pipe, like a large market pen’ and was filled with ‘smokeless propellant often found in ammunition.’”