Shoe lifts raise airport security alarm
'A crime of vanity'
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 | 6:00 PM ET
CBC News
A traveller who stuffed his shoes with batteries and metal plates in a bid to appear taller put security officials on high alert at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Tuesday.
Shortly before 10 a.m. ET, a man travelling to Chicago was stopped by security.
It was the unusual contents of his shoes that set off alarm bells — specifically a series of concealed metal plates and batteries.
The man was detained, taken to a nearby police station and questioned for five hours. The incident drew the interest of Peel Regional Police, the RCMP and INSET, Canada's integrated national security enforcement team.
But instead of concealing bomb-making equipment, the man was simply trying to appear taller, police eventually determined.
"If anything, it was a crime of vanity," CBC's John Lancaster reported. "He used a series of batteries and plates to make himself appear taller. Essentially, they were homemade lifts."
The man was released without charges at 3:30 p.m. ET.
He boarded an afternoon flight to Chicago to connect with a flight to China.
With files from CBC's John LancasterShare Tools
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