The FBI has arrested a man they said brought an explosive hidden in a suitcase to Lehigh Valley International Airport, which led to the terminal being closed earlier this week because of a reported suspicious package.
Transportation Safety Administration employees at the airport outside Allentown found what they believed to be an explosive Monday in the checked rolling suitcase of passenger Marc Muffley, and contacted the FBI, authorities said.
Muffley, 40, of Lansford in Carbon County, is in custody and is awaiting an appearance in federal court, authorities said Wednesday.
On Monday morning, Muffley was taking Allegiant Flight 201 to Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida, court records say.
He allegedly checked the suitcase at the Allegiant desk in the airport’s main terminal. The TSA screened the baggage before it was to be loaded in the plane’s cargo area, the FBI said, and an alarm sounded for the presence of suspicious items in Muffley’s suitcase.
TSA agents reported physically searching the bag and finding a circular compound, about three inches wide, with a granular-type of powder wrapped in wax-like paper and clear plastic wrap with a “quick fuse” and a “hobby fuse,” court records say. The item was hidden in the lining of Muffley’s bag, the FBI said.
The granular powder was “suspected to be a mixture of flash powder and the dark granulars that are used in commercial grade fireworks,” the FBI said in the court papers: “The baggage also contained a can of butane, a lighter, a pipe with white powder residue, a wireless drill with cordless batteries, and two GFCI outlets taped together with black tape.”
Special Agent Jared Witmier, an FBI bomb technician, said the quick fuse appeared to be a part of the original manufacturing of the compound, but the “hobby fuse” appeared to be added to the item.
LVIA security cameras recorded Muffley being dropped off at about 10:45 a.m. Monday at LVIA by a person driving a white Chevrolet Equinox, investigators said.
Around 11:40 a.m, after TSA initially discovered the explosive, Muffley was paged over the airport’s public address system to the airport’s security desk, court papers say; about five minutes later, security cameras recorded Muffley leaving the airport out of the lower-level exit.
“Our TSA officers are highly trained and highly skilled professionals at the front line of aviation security who are focused on their mission and this catch illustrates that exact point,” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct the spelling of the suspect’s first name.
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Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
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