Saudi Stopped at Detroit Airport with Pressure Cooker
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Photodisc/Digital Vision/Thinkstock(DETROIT) — A Saudi national trying to bring a pressure cooker through Detroit Metropolitan Airport was charged Monday with altering his passport and lying about why he had the device.
Authorities say that Hussain Al Kwawahir initially told officers with Customs and Border Protection last Saturday that the pressure cooker was for a nephew attending college in Ohio because they’re not sold in the U.S.
He then allegedly changed his story to say his nephew owned a pressure cooker but that it was broken.
Meanwhile, officials noticed that a page was missing from Al Kwawahir’s passport, prompting his arrest. He had arrived from Saudi Arabia earlier Saturday after a stopover in Amsterdam.
The case remains under investigation. It was four weeks ago that U.S. prosecutors say pressure cookers were used as bombs during the Boston Marathon, although there’s no evidence that the Detroit incident is related.
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