Traces of explosives found at Port of Miami

MIAMI, Jan 8 (Reuters) Traces of explosives were detected today on a pallet of merchandise that was to be loaded onto a cruise ship at the Port of Miami, and a suspicious item was blown up as a precaution, police and coast guard officials said.

Scanning instruments sounded an alert during a routine examination of the pallet as it was being removed from a truck, and the Miami-Dade County Police bomb squad was sent to the busy port to investigate, spokesman Roy Rutland said.

''They positively tested for C-4 explosives. The coast guard is establishing a security zone around the cruise ship,'' US Coast Guard Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson said on CNN.

C-4 is a putty-like explosive used for demolition and military purposes.

Television images showed the bomb squad blowing up an object at the port, but it was unclear what the object was.

It was the second security scare at the port in two days.

yesterday, police detained a truck driver and two passengers who tried to enter the port without proper identification.

An anti-terrorism task force made up of federal and local police agencies was alerted, but investigators determined that neither the men nor their cargo of automotive electronics posed a threat.

The driver and his brother, both Iraqi nationals, and the other passenger, a Lebanese citizen, were held for questioning and jailed on charges of trespass and resisting arrest without violence. But the charges were later dropped.

Police blamed the incident on ''miscommunication'' between the driver and seaport guards.

Reuters DKS VP0305