TAMPA — A man arrested by Tampa International Airport security after a 7-inch kitchen knife turned up in his luggage will be held without bail.
Federal prosecutors told U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun III Friday that Raed Abdul-Rahman Alsaif was a potential flight risk. Alsaif is in the country on a student visa but was academically dismissed. Jail records indicate he had been attending the University of Tampa.
On June 4, Alsaif was preparing to board a stop-over flight to Portland, Ore., when airport security spotted the blade on the x-ray screening machine, court documents state. A transportation security officer found the knife "artfully" wedged between the bag's exterior fabric and expandable handle. Alsaif was promptly arrested.