Japan airports introduce random pat-downs to deter terrorists
News On Japan via Mainichi -- Oct 01

The transport ministry instituted on Monday random frisking of aircraft passengers at 30 airports across Japan that serve international flights to deter terrorist attacks involving materials such as explosives that cannot be picked up by metal detectors.

The move by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism came as the International Civil Aviation Organization is recommending body searches due to the increasing number of terrorist attempts to smuggle nonmetallic explosives aboard airplanes.

Japanese airports have yet to introduce body scanners that are available at some airports overseas due to the high costs of such equipment and for fear of privacy infringement.

Source: Mainichi



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