TWO French police officers will face disciplinary proceedings after bungling a training exercise that caused a slab of explosives to be placed on a flight out of Charles de Gaulle airport, the headquarters of the gendarmerie in Paris said today. The two men are also being suspended from their functions as dog-handlers because of "grave professional misconduct."
Police services around the world were continuing to hunt for the 150 grams of explosives - the size of a bar of chocolate - which left Paris on an unknown flight on Friday evening. Experts said the material was harmless because it was not connected to a detonator. In a routine test, the two dog-handlers placed the bar of explosives inside a random bag as it passed on a conveyor belt between check-in and the aircraft loading bays. One dog successfully detected the item, but the other did not. Before it had the chance of a second attempt, the bag had been taken off towards its destination. Yesterday, Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin described the police behaviour as "reprehensible and scandalous" and promised an investigation. |