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Inert grenades at Hilo airport cause evacuation after found in Japan traveler's bag

This image provided by the Hawaiʻi Police Department shows two grenades. Operations at Hawaiʻi’s Hilo International Airport were halted when security screeners spotted two items that looked like grenades in a bag belonging to a man from Japan. Police say officers evacuated the terminal area Tuesday, July 9, 2024 while a bomb squad determined the grenades were inert.
AP
/
Hawaiʻi Police Department
This image provided by the Hawaiʻi Police Department shows two grenades. Operations at Hawaiʻi’s Hilo International Airport were halted when security screeners spotted two items that looked like grenades in a bag belonging to a man from Japan. Police say officers evacuated the terminal area Tuesday, July 9, 2024 while a bomb squad determined the grenades were inert.

Operations at Hilo International Airport were halted when security screeners spotted two items that looked like grenades in a bag belonging to a man from Japan.

Officers evacuated the terminal area Tuesday morning while a bomb squad determined the grenades were inert, according to a Hawaiʻi Police Department statement. Airport operations resumed about an hour later.

Police spokesperson Denise Laitinen said in an email Wednesday that she's looking into details about the grenades being inert.

Police arrested a 41-year-old man from Kanazawa, Japan, on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening. He was taken to an east Hawaiʻi detention facility and then released pending investigation, police said.

The Transportation Security Administration prohibits replicas of explosives, including hand grenades, in checked or carry-on luggage.

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