A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 26

This is the third year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story: TSA Screeners Allegedly Took Bribes To Let Drugs Pass:

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced criminal charges against four security screeners who worked at Los Angeles International Airport and were allegedly paid thousands of dollars in bribes to look the other way while drug shipments slipped through security checkpoints.

Two of the screeners were fired by the Transportation Security Administration during the past two years, but two others were still on the government payroll up to their arrest. All four were arrested within the past day, according to prosecutors.

The screeners were indicted on Sunday along with three alleged drug runners, who prosecutors said brought cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana through the checkpoints at LAX.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been intrigued by those people who work security at airports. They have an enormous amount of discretionary power, but who are they? What is their background? Who decides who gets to land those gigs?

Consider the amount of trust we put in these people, the last line of defense against crazed terrorists who might be boarding a plane.

Or are they the ones with whom we should be concerned?

So it appears to be a simple drug deal. Screeners paid off by drug dealers to look the other way as they passed bags full of illegal narcotics through airport security.

If I’m not mistaken, there has never been a movie featuring TSA screeners as the basis of a crime caper. An interesting angle into a story, don’t you think?

What would you do with this story idea?

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