What was supposed to be a K-9 training session conducted by Australian Federal Police turned into a major blunder when police accidently left a suitcase full of explosives inside an airport.
Approximately 230 grams of plastic explosives were hidden inside the unclaimed suitcase, which AFP left inside Sydney Airport after a routine training session on Aug. 14, the feds said on their website.
But it wasn't until Tuesday when the booby-trapped luggage was found.
Thinking it was a forgotten suitcase, airport officials gave it to a woman as a replacement after her luggage was damaged during a flight.
The woman found the bomb inside and immediately turned it into a police station in Cessnock. Offices evacuated the building as a precaution, authorities said.
AFP apologized for the mistake, saying the explosives were "not live" and are used to train dogs to detect real threats.
"The AFP takes this error seriously and the canine instructor who inadvertently left this device behind has been identified and will be the subject of a formal Professional Standard Investigation," said Wane Buchhorn, commander of AFP Sydney Airport.
"Although the traveling public was not in danger at any time, we regularly review our process in this area, and we will do [it] again in the light of this incident," he said.
As is tradition with any major public mistake, Twitter erupted with cheeky and scornful comments against AFP for being careless:
How exactly could Federal Police leave 230grams of plastic explosive at Sydney Airport FOR A MONTH and not know? https://t.co/qR1sLJTSme
— News Australia (@NewsAustralia) September 11, 2014
@NewsAustralia Good to know the people managing our heightened terrorist threat are completely incompetent — ElizabethJMars (@ElizabethJMars) September 11, 2014
so um... was the specific terror threat actually the AFP? — Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) September 11, 2014
