Viruses, Vaccines and Mass Inoculations

Scientist Behind Airport Evacuation Charged with Smuggling Bubonic Plague in 2003

September 3, 2010

ABC News - The scientist who prompted an evacuation of Miami International Airport for carrying what screeners believed was a pipe bomb is known to federal authorities and was charged in 2003 for illegally transporting 30 vials of the deadly bubonic plague.

Officials said Dr. Thomas Butler, 70, a U.S. citizen, who teaches in the Caribbean and Saudi Arabia, was released after questioning. Authorities said the metal canister in his luggage tested negative for dangerous materials and was related to a legitimate experiment.

Butler, a renowned infectious disease expert who spent more than 20 years working on cures for cholera and bubonic plague at Texas Tech, lost his job after he was found guilty of exporting the vials, lying to federal officials, and embezzling research funds. He was charged with 47 counts smuggling biohazard materials. He spent two years in prison but was later acquitted of smuggling plague pathogens.

Bubonic plague, an ancient disease that causes victims' glands to painfully swell before causing death, is one of several viruses and bacteria that anti-terror experts fear could be used as a terror weapon. Some antibiotics have proved useful in treating plague, and Butler reportedly was reportedly working on a new cure while at Texas Tech in Lubbock.

Officials said Butler, whose name they have yet to release publicly, was cooperative and permitted to continue his trip after questioning. At a press conference today, FBI agent Michael Leverock called him "very cooperative."

Butler was reportedly travelling from Saudi Arabia. He changed planes in London and was switch planes in Miami before ending in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Officials said Butler is a professor at Ross University in the Caribbean and was on teaching assignment in Saudi Arabia.

Most of the airport was shut down for several hours late Thursday night after officials found the metal canister in Butler's luggage.

Authorities initially suspected it was a possible pipe bomb and evacuated the airport.

Passengers from four of the airport's six concourses were evacuated as the bomb squad scoured the airport.

The airport reopened early today.

Convicted Disease Doc Won't Be Charged in MIA Scare

Scientist found with suspicious item at airport did prison time for plague sample flap

September 3, 2010

AP - A world-renowned Texas scientist specializing in infectious diseases who was once charged with smuggling dangerous samples of plague bacteria into the U.S. was questioned by authorities after a suspicious item found in his luggage caused a massive evacuation at Miami International Airport Thursday night.

Dr. Thomas C. Butler, 70, was questioned by agents with the FBI and Miami-Dade police Friday after a suspicious item was found in his checked luggage by a MIA baggage screener Thursday night, sources told NBC Miami.

The suspicious item scare caused police to evacuate four of six airport terminals and the airport's hotel for nearly seven hours as a bomb squad removed the item for further testing.

The airport was fully reopened around 4 a.m., and initial tests on the item have come back negative.

Shortly before noon Friday, it was learned that Butler was released from questioning and won't be charged in the incident. Authorities escorted him back to one of the terminals at MIA where he's expected to board a plane to Puerto Rico, which was his destination Thursday night.

Butler was not identified by authorities at an early-morning press conference, where FBI Special Agent Michael Leverock said the man being questioned was not under arrest and was being "voluntarily interviewed."

"He's being very cooperative," said Leverock.

Leverock said the item was still being tested at a lab to determine what, if any, danger it posed.

"We don't even know if a crime occurred here," he said.

Sources told NBC Miami that Butler had been coming from Saudi Arabia when the suspicious item was spotted in his luggage as it went through customs.

Butler had been on the faculty at Texas Tech since the late 80s until his arrest in 2003 on charges of smuggling and improperly transporting the plague samples, as well as theft, embezzlement and fraud. Butler told police that 30 vials containing the samples had been stolen from his lab.

He was eventually found guilty of exporting the vials of plague and stealing research money. He was acquitted of illegally exporting the plague samples.

Butler spent nearly two years behind bars and lost his Texas Tech job, despite the protests of several in the scientific community who denounced his prosecution. His controversial story was even featured in a "60 Minutes" piece titled "The Case Against Dr. Butler."

He's currently listed as a faculty member at Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia.

Senior Law Enforcement Official: Professor Detained at Miami Airport Released; No Charges

September 3, 2010

Associated Press - A senior law enforcement official says the scientist detained at Miami International Airport because of a suspicious item in his luggage had once been charged with illegally transporting bubonic plague.

The official told The Associated Press on Friday that no dangerous material was found on 70-year-old Thomas Butler after he was detained Thursday night. He was released Friday.

The official said Butler cooperated fully after he arrived on a flight from the Middle East. The official requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Butler was teaching at Texas Tech in 2003 when he was accused of illegally transporting the deadly germ. He was acquitted on those counts but convicted of fraud. He served a two-year sentence.

He was "very cooperative," FBI agent Michael Leverock said at a news conference in Miami.

The metal canister that sparked concern was a legitimate experiment, said another government official who also requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

That official said the man has a prior arrest record related to biological material and is a professor at Ross University in Dominica on a teaching assignment in Saudi Arabia. The professor told law enforcement that the metal canister was used for medical testing, and the FBI found that it was used to transport dead bacteria samples, the official said.

Most of the airport was shut down Thursday night after officials found the canister in the scientist's bag. A Homeland Security spokesman said at first it looked like a pipe bomb, but no explosives were found.

A police bomb squad spent hours scouring the airport and passengers had to be evacuated from four of the airport's six concourses and airport roadways were closed down, police and airport officials said. They described the shutdown of the concourses as a public safety precaution.

The airport fully reopened just after 4 a.m. Friday before the first scheduled morning departures.

"Everything's back to normal," airport spokesman Greg Chin told The Associated Press.

Passengers, workers and others were allowed back in just as the airport was expecting the first of 1,500 passengers on flights between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. alone -- and more thereafter.

The Miami International Airport Hotel, which is located near the airport's international terminal, was also evacuated, Chin said.

The Transportation Security Administration declined to identify the passenger, saying in a terse statement that the screener spotted something suspicious in a checked back at about 9 p.m. Thursday.

Chin said between 100 and 200 passengers were evacuated initially.

"I'm still not sure how many flights came in during this time, but any that did were relocated to the eastern or western ends of the airport," Chin said, adding parts of Concourses D and J remained open to flights while the evacuation order was in effect for remaining areas.

Lennox Lewis, was waiting to fly to Barbados later Friday morning in one of the four concourses that had been closed. He said the Miami airport is "one of the most stringent" to get through because he has to be fingerprinted and have his picture taken at customs.