The take on fake
CBP shows counterfeit goods
Salvatore Ingrassia, Assistant Port Director,
JFK Airport U.S. Customs & Border
Protection with one several hundred
counterfeit iphone 11s confiscated at
JFK. This is reportedly the first seizure of
these fake phones nationally. Kudos CBP.
JFK Airport Port Director Frank Russo
with Special HSI Agent Erik Rosenblatt
with potentially dangerous counterfeit
medicine.
AIRPORT VOICE,DECEMBER 2019 5
NY JEFF YAPALATER
The U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) , U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
(ICE), and Homeland Security Investigations
(HSI) in New York
held a joint media event highlighting
counterfeit goods and cautioning
“Buyer Beware” for the holidays.
Frank Russo, Port Director
CBP, JFK Airport and Special
HSI Agent Erik Rosenblatt stood
around a 20 foot long table of beautiful
“fake” products which are evidence
of the allure that counterfeit
goods have to the uninformed public
who usually finds these products
for sale online for considerable
less than the original product.
These goods on display included
counterfeit iPhones, Samsung
,Movado watches, designer perfumes.
Coach bags, NFL Rings and
replica trophies from all national
sports, sneakers, shoes, ear buds
and much more.
Said Director Russo, “ Purchasing
“Knock-offs” of brand-name
items have serious impact on our
economy by taking spending away
from our businesses, bringing potentially
dangerous drugs into our
country, loss of jobs, theft of intellectual
property rights, loss of income
for our national growth and
trade”. He pointed specifically to
the huge counterfeit drug shipments
made to the US as damaging
to the health risks of all buyers. IHe
said that most U.S. consumers have
no idea that many terrorists use
these counterfeit items to produce
income to be used for funding terror
activities and networks.
Fake or black market pharmaceuticals
are the most dangerous
of all counterfeit shipments. Thirty
percent of all illegal pharmaceuticals
coming into this country are
fake Cialis and Viagra. According
to Russo, “The buyer has no idea
of what is inside those blue pills. It
might be a bad active ingredient,
untested filler, over or under dosage
that come from an unauthorized
manufacturer leading to fatalities”.
Such is the case of Fentanyl,
an opioid, which is being shipped
to the US in small parcels, some of
which have caused deaths because
of bad compounds. Fentanyl is a
huge moneymaking scheme but the
potential effects can be deadly. Because
the product is expensive in
small quantities much is shipped in
manila envelopes and can pass as
mail. The CBP is screening USPS
mail shipments daily in order to intercept
this dangerous product.
Russo said that the CBP is on
the frontline of protecting the public
from illegal products, and fights
the efforts of thieves to curtail our
national prosperity. He said that
the different agencies work daily
using various techniques to identify
and inspect suspected counterfeit
goods. Once a suspected
shipment is identified as fake, an
investigation begins which may
lead to following the goods to a location
possible leading to an arrest.
Such was the case when million of
dollars of fake IDs were confiscated
in a recent bust. and destined for
Flushing NY.Inspector Russo acknowledges
that an unbelievable
price is great bait to catch consumers
looking for a desired brand
product but offers these cautionary
words, “The bitterness of poor
quality lasts much longer than the
happiness of a good price.”
All agencies ask that if you See
Something, Say Something”. To report
suspicious activity, call 1-866-
347-2423. or goto: www.ice.gov/tipline
Southwest Flt. 1380 accident
NTSB reports bad fan blade
The National Transportation
Safety Board determined during a
public board meeting reported recently
that a fractured fan blade
from a CFM International CFM-
56-7B engine, powering a Southwest
Airlines Boeing 737-700, led to the
engine inlet and fan cowl separating
and subsequently damaging the
fuselage, resulting in a rapid cabin
depressurization.
On April 17. 2018 one passenger
died and eight others suffered minor
injuries when the fractured fan
blade impacted the fan case, causing
fan cowl fragments to strike
the airplane’s fuselage near a cabin
window. The window departed the
airplane, and the cabin rapidly depressurized.
The accident happened
after Southwest Airlines flight
1380 departed New York’s LaGuardia
Airport, bound for Love Field,
Dallas, Texas. The flight crew conducted
an emergency descent and diverted
to Philadelphia International
Airport. There were 144 passengers
and five crew members aboard.
“This accident demonstrates
that a fan blade can fail and release
differently than that observed
during engine certification testing
and accounted for in airframe
structural analyses,” said NTSB
Chairman Robert Sumwalt. “It is
important to go beyond routine examination
of fan blades; the structural
integrity of the engine nacelle
components for various airframe
and engine combinations needs to
be ensured.”
The NTSB noted, as part of its
probable cause, the accident occurred
when portions of the fan
cowl separated in flight after a fan
blade, which had fractured due to a
fatigue crack, impacted the engine
fan case at a location that was critical
to the structural integrity and
performance of the fan cowl structure.
The NTSB found that the separated
fan blade impacted the engine
fan case and fractured into multiple
fragments. Some of the fragments
traveled forward of the engine and
into the inlet. The impact of the separated
fan blade with the fan case
also imparted significant loads into
the fan cowl through the radial restraint
fitting, which is what caused
the fan cowl to fail.
As a result of the investigation
the NTSB issued seven new safety
recommendations with five issued
to the Federal Aviation Administration,
one to the European Aviation
Safety Agency, and one to Southwest
Airlines.
TSA supervisor Lance Breyer displays improved elements of security on SIDA badge.
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