THE CRACKS and weaknesses in the security systems at the island's two international airports were identified long before 21-year-old Stephen Fray armed himself with a gun, walked through the critical checkpoints and attempted to hijack a CanJet aircraft at the Sangster International Airport, St James, a week ago.

A highly ranked police officer and a senior government official confirmed reports that last year, a team led by members of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) looked at the loopholes in the security system at the airports. The team later made several recommendations for the Government to implement.

"We did not only find weaknesses in the security system inside, but also in the perimeter fencing. One of the recommendations we made was for more police to be placed at critical points in the airports," the highly ranked officer said.

Implicated in smuggling

While the JCAA is probing the April 19 incident at the Sangster International Airport, the Government official said the national security ministry had begun reviewing the existing security policies at the airports.

"There are cases where some people enter the airport as clean as a whistle. When they are searched, we found nothing on them. Yet when they are searched again, prior to boarding flights, they are found with drugs," Senior Superintendent Carlton Wilson, head of the Narcotics Division, told The Sunday Gleaner.

SSP Wilson's argument was based on investigations which revealed that a number of persons who worked in the precinct of the airports were involved in corruption.

He explained that about two months ago, a passenger who was nabbed with a quantity of ganja, later confessed to the police that the drug was given to him by a security guard on duty inside the Norman Manley International Airport, Kingston.

According to the police, the accused passenger later identified the guard who had given him the drug. Further investigation by the narcotics police led them to a room inside the airport, where a quantity of ganja was being stored.

"Right now, we are looking for two port security guards who were implicated in that incident," said SSP Wilson.

In the past, the narcotics police have arrested a number of persons who worked at the airports, following investigations which revealed that they were implicated in drug smuggling.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport and Works said yesterday that Minister Mike Henry had received reports on the matter from the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, the Airports Authority of Jamaica, the Port Security, and MBJ Airport Limited, the private entity which operates the Sangster International Airport.

The ministry said Minister Henry has had several meeting with security minister, Senator Dwight Nelson, and they are due to meet again tomorrow.