Scientist Behind Airport Evacuation Charged with Smuggling Plague in 2003
US News • September 2010 • Views: 490
The scientist who prompted an evacuation of Miami International Airport for carrying what screeners believed was a pipe bomb is known to federal authorities and was charged in 2003 for illegally transporting 30 vials of the deadly bubonic plague.
Officials said Dr. Thomas Butler, 70, a U.S. citizen, who teaches in the Caribbean and Saudi Arabia, was released after questioning. Authorities said the metal canister in his luggage tested negative for dangerous materials and was related to a legitimate experiment.