Lax security at Heathrow

London

British reporters demonstrated the porousness of security at Heathrow international airport this week by smuggling weapons, including a meat cleaver, on board airplanes. Roger Insall, a reporter for the weekly tabloid The People, said he took out the cleaver and a dagger “right under the noses of two uniformed flight attendants sharing the same row of seats.” On another flight, a television journalist successfully concealed a replica of a semiautomatic pistol in his carry-on bag. “We’re concerned these items were apparently taken through our security,” a security spokesman said, “but items deliberately concealed can be difficult to detect.”