Cargo containing landmines and destined for an El Al flight from Canada to Israel caused a security scare before it was determined the shipment was for UN forces in the Middle East, the Haaretz daily said on its website on Tuesday.
The cargo arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport last week and was to be loaded onto the El Al flight, Haaretz said on its website.
Two officers with Peel Regional Police’s explosive device unit team and several officers stationed at the airport responded to the call shortly before 2 p.m. Monday after an alarm went off in a cargo area.
Const. George Tudos, a spokesman for the police force, would not confirm the shipment contained landmines, saying only the goods in question were "military training devices" on a skid.
"There was no threat to anyone," Const. Tudos told the National Post. "It was cargo that was being transported from one company to another company. There really is not much to it."
The flight was bound for Tel Aviv. El Al refused to take the devices in the belly of its passenger flight, Tudos said.
Guards, who were not informed of the shipment ahead of time, refused to let it onto the flight and handed the explosives to Canadian authorities, according to Haaretz.
However, investigations revealed it was part of a shipment, mostly of training equipment, destined for United Nations peacekeepers in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Haaretz said.
El Al declined to comment on the specific incident, but noted in a statement that "All cargo flown on El Al undergoes a thorough check according to our security regulations."
No charges were laid in connection with the incident. Police evacuated the cargo area and the situation was under control in less than two hours, Tudos said.
– With files from Mary Vallis, National Post
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