ATLANTA, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A trail that began with the alleged sale of guns to an undercover New York police officer has led to the arrest of a Delta Airlines baggage handler in Atlanta.
An FBI affidavit released Monday said that Eugene Harvey, a baggage handler at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, helped Mark Henry, a former Delta employee, get the guns past security. Henry was arrested Dec. 10 at Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Henry was arrested after another man, not named in the FBI affidavit, allegedly attempted the New York gun sale, the affidavit said.
Kennedy had 18 weapons in his backpack, and investigators determined he would have been unable to get them through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint. The FBI said seven of the guns were loaded and Henry also had ammunition in his backpack.
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George Taylor, a member of the FBI task force, said in the affidavit that Henry texted Harvey from Concourse B at the airport once he was through security on Dec. 10.
Security cameras captured the two men entering a men's room about a minute apart.
Investigators charge that Henry smuggled at least 129 handguns and two assault rifles from Atlanta to New York this year. They said that on the days he flew to New York, Harvey came to the airport even though he was not scheduled to work and used his Delta employee identification to enter the employee parking lot and other areas where employees are not required to pass through TSA screening.
All of the weapons had been reported stolen or had been bought illegally, the FBI said. Henry and Harvey face charges that include firearms trafficking and illegal sale.
Delta released a statement saying it is cooperating with the investigation.
