Officials stress there have been no specific threats made against the Port of Miami in relation to the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, but local, state, and federal agencies will step up security at the port this weekend.
"What you're seeing here is a multi-agency strike-force operation, which is regularly done here at the port," Miami-Dade Police Lt. Al Ferrer told WSVN. "What we've done for the anniversary of September 11 is that we've enhanced the resources by bringing additional personnel. We have 15 total agencies participating in this from state, federal, and local."
As part of the operation, all commercial vehicles entering the port will be screened and searched. Homeland Security specifically has begun using a specialized x-ray machine to inspect cargo coming into the port. Some passenger vessels will be searched as well.
The security precautions will be in effect until Monday.
Last night, federal officials announced they had a received a "specific and credible" yet unconfirmed report that three Al-Qaeda-linked militants were planning to detonate car bombs in New York City on the Sunday anniversary. The precautions at the Port of Miami are unrelated.
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