Bomb Found on Rental Car at NM Airport

'Credible explosive device' disarmed, but renters had long wait in Albuquerque
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 15, 2016 11:00 AM CST
Bomb Found on Rental Car at NM Airport
It was a long wait for travelers hoping to get a car from the Avis center at Albuquerque International Sunport on Sunday.   (Albuquerque Police Department, via NBC News)

The FBI and the ATF are on the case in New Mexico for a Breaking Bad-like scenario: a "credible explosive device" found underneath a rental car that was returned Sunday to the Albuquerque International Sunport, CNN reports. Police say the vehicle had been rented elsewhere (cops aren't saying where) and then dropped off at the Albuquerque Avis center, per NBC News. The device was found by employees who had the car up on a lift to inspect it; they immediately called authorities upon their discovery. The device was eventually disarmed and the center's operations went back to normal—but even though the situation ended with no one hurt, there were related issues to the investigation.

The airport itself wasn't shut down (the main terminal isn't attached to the car rental center), but travelers who needed to rent from or return cars to Avis were forced to wait in a long line in a nearby parking lot while the situation was resolved, per the Albuquerque Journal. A woman who went to pick up a friend at the airport says she "spent hours consoling" Avis workers, who were reportedly told they had to stay put during the incident, KOB-TV reports. "I can see the fear that they were having," she tells the station. "Here you get a bomb threat and they keep them in there. [It's] sad America has to have this fear." One of the center's employees tells the Journal that "we've had threats from hostile customers, but I've never heard of a bomb threat." (An alleged car bomber was injured because he likely didn't set the timer correctly.)

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