Smuggling scheme took guns, including AK-47, onto passenger jets for years, prosecutor says

A New York prosecutor has announced five arrests in a brazen scheme in which guns — even an AK-47 rifle — were taken onto passenger jets for years in carry-on luggage.

Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson made the disclosure at a news conference Tuesday. He announced the arrests a day after charges were announced in Atlanta against an airline baggage handler.

He said he was not trying to scare anyone. But he called "truly frightening" what investigators learned after a probe that started as a way to reduce gun violence in Brooklyn.

He said former Delta Air Lines employee Mark Quentin Henry took guns aboard at least 17 commercial airliners this year from Atlanta to New York airports. The name of his lawyer wasn't listed in court records.