Beneath the
digital face lies a .22-caliber pistol a phone gun capable of firing four rounds
in quick succession with a touch of the otherwise standard keypad.
European law
enforcement officials stunned by the discovery of these deadly decoys say phone
guns are changing the rules of engagement in Europe.
We find it very,
very alarming, says Wolfgang Dicke of the German Police union. It means police
will have to draw their weapons whenever a person being checked reaches for
their mobile phone. Although cell phone guns have not hit America yet, the FBI,
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the U.S. Customs Service say they've
been briefed on the new weapons.
This criminal
invention represents a potentially serious threat to law enforcement and the
public, said U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.
We received word
about these guns last month. We have since alerted our field personnel to be on
the lookout for cell phone guns at U.S. ports of entry.
The guns are
loaded by twisting the phone in half. The .22-caliber rounds fit into the top of
the phone under the screen. The lower half, under the keyboard, holds the firing
pins. The bullets fire through the antenna by pressing the keypad from numbers
five to eight. Amsterdam police says they are very sophisticated machines
constructed inside gutted cell hones which do not light up or operate as real
phones.
These are very
difficult to make. We believe experts are involved, says Zandbergen.
Guns on
the Move
These new covert guns were first discovered in October when Dutch police
stumbled on a cache during a drug raid in Amsterdam. In another recent incident
a Croatian gun dealer was caught attempting to smuggle a shipment through
Slovenia into Western Europe. Police say both shipments are believed to have
originated in Yugoslavia. Interpol sent out a warning to law enforcement
agencies around the world. European border police and customs officers are at a
heightened state of alert at all ports, airports and border crossings.
Realistic
Appearance
If you didn't know they were guns, you wouldn't suspect anything, said Ari
Zandbergen, spokesman for the Amsterdam police. Only when you have one in your
hand do you realize that they are heavier, says Birgit Heib of the German
Federal Criminal Investigation Agency. The guns are loaded by twisting the phone
in half. The .22-caliber rounds fit into the top of the phone under the screen.
The lower half, under the keyboard, holds the firing pins. The bullets fire
through the antenna by pressing the keypad from numbers five to eight. Amsterdam
police says they are very sophisticated machines constructed inside gutted cell
phones which do not light up or operate as real phones. These are very difficult
to make. We believe experts are involved, says Zandbergen.
America on
Alert
U.S. authorities, including the FBI, ATF, Federal Aviation Administration and
the U.S. Customs Service Authority have been supplied detailed information and
pictures of these new weapons. They've been given a heads up, said Jim Crandall,
ATF spokesman. To date no phone guns have been discovered either in the United
States or in the process of being smuggled in, authorities say. But they know
its only a matter of time. FAA spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler said airport security
officers had been trained to deal with this new threat. We don't want to tell
the bad guys exactly what were looking for, she says, We are trying to stay one
step ahead.
Will
Affect Travelers
Airport authorities across Europe are implementing systems to X-ray all cell
phones, those procedures will likely be followed by airports around the world.
This is just one more item that we need to pay special attention to because
nowadays, of course just about every passenger carries a mobile phone, says the
spokesman for Frankfurt airport security. Customs officials in the U.S. say
their safety procedure has normally been to require travelers to turn their
phones on, however that may no longer be enough. Cell phone users will have to
be made aware that reaching for their phones in some circumstances could be
misinterpreted as a threat by authorities.
ABCNEWS Christel Kucharz in Bonn and Andrew Chang in New York contributed
to this report.
