New York:
Four Glock 9mm semi-automatic guns belonging to the personal bodyguards of the visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have gone missing, after his arrival in New York and have not been traced for the past four days.
The guns were placed in checked baggages- as dictated by the US security protocol- at New York's JFK International Airport and were supposed to be placed on a flight to Washington for Israeli security guards accompanying Netanyahu, US media reports said.
The search for those four 9mm semi-automatic Glock 17 pistols now "is priority No 1 for the American law-enforcement agencies," a police official told 'The New York Post'.
The FBI and Secret Service have joined the probe, which is being led by the Port Authority, which looks after the New York City Airport.
One possibility being investigated is that the guns were stolen by an American Airlines employee at JFK.
The Airlines has authorised a search of workers' lockers at JFK Airport in Queens.
Police are also interviewing American Airlines workers.
Netanyahu's security retinue landed at JFK between 5 and 6 am on an El Al flight from Israel.
Among the team's luggage was seven guns, three in a so-called Pelican carrying case, and the four 9mm semi-automatic Glock 17 pistols in another Pelican case, a source told 'The Post'.
A videotape taken by the Transportation Safety Administration shows both cases and the guns being examined by airport personnel.
"That is the best evidence we have that the guns were actually here," said a source.
After that, "an incredible comedy of errors occurs, with everyone who touches the case [containing the four Glocks] screwing up," another source said.
When the Israelis arrived in Washington, they found that the Pelican case containing the four Glocks was missing.
A search ensued and the case was found in Los Angeles on Tuesday. But it wasnt checked to see if the guns were still there. Instead, the suitcase was sent to Chicago and then
Washington.
Authorities suspect the pistols were stolen at JFK, and that the culprits put the luggage on an LA-bound flight because it was the longest domestic flight out of the airport, giving them a lengthy head-start before the crime would come to light and be investigated, 'The Post' reported.
"The incident has left American officials red-faced and scrambling to find out who was responsible for the lapse and where the Israeli bodyguard's pistols are," it said.
Netanyahu was in New York yesterday meeting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.