TSA Agents Using Illegal Drugs On The Job At LAX

TSA Workers Caught Using Drugs?


The Transportation Security Administration, already suffering from embarrassment after a man walked into a terminal unchecked at Newark's airport, now face allegations that its employees at Los Angeles International Airport were caught on tape using drugs, CBS affiliate KCAL reports.

The investigation began late last year when a TSA Agent was arrested for allegedly counterfeiting parking passes at the employee parking lot. In his house, police found a videotape. On it was an after hours party where other TSA agents were allegedly using drugs, reports KCAL's David Goldstein.

TSA sources say the tape was turned over to investigators. Each employee identified was ordered to take a drug test. TSA won't say how many, but each one who failed was fired, Goldstein reports.

Larry Fetters, the Federal Security Director at LAX says, "We don't tolerate drugs. We don't tolerate narcotics." He wouldn't talk specifics, but said the agency has random drug testing, and claims the employees would have been caught even without the video.

None of the employees was charged with any crimes. Even the TSA agent caught counterfeiting parking passes wasn't prosecuted because no one he sold to would come forward, notes Goldstein.

The incident was kept quiet from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "This is the first I've heard about it," the mayor told Goldstein.

Last week, TSA officials came under fire for allowing an unidentified man skirt security checkpoints at Newark Liberty International Airport, causing a terminal to shut down for several hours. The man was never found and it was revealed Tuesday that the terminal's surveillance camera didn't record the incident.



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