Four held in UK airport alert

GATWICK, England -- Four Britons have been arrested in possession of an array of weapons after arriving at a UK airport on a flight from the United States.

The four were detained on Saturday in the customs hall at London's Gatwick Airport after arriving in Britain from Orlando, Florida, a Sussex Police spokeswoman told CNN.

She said one of the men, who were aged between 17 and 21, had subsequently been charged with a weapons-related offence.

The spokeswoman said: "Following a customs inspection at the green channel (nothing to declare) at the South Terminal, four young men were arrested by police after customs officials found offensive weapons in their luggage.

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"The men, from Redhill and Reigate were in possession of knives, mace, knuckle-dusters and a taser stun gun."

The towns of Redhill and Reigate are in the county of Surrey, southern England.

All of the items were in bags which had been checked into the plane's cargo hold.

Police could not confirm which airline the men had travelled on. Police do not believe the incident was related to any terrorism plots and are treating it as a breach of airport security.

The weapons, which included knives with 18-inch blades, are all illegal in the United Kingdom, and police believe the men bought them while visiting the United States, where the weapons are legal.

The spokeswoman said three of the youths had been cautioned and that a fourth man had been charged with a weapons offence related to two fixed-blade knives and will appear in court on November 9.

The incident comes as U.S. officials investigate a security alert at Chicago airport after a man was stopped with seven knives and a stun gun in his hand luggage as he was about to board a flight.

Security has already been stepped up at airports in Britain and the United States after the September 11 hijack attacks on New York and Washington.