The men arrived in Amsterdam from Chicago Dutch police have questioned two men who arrived at Amsterdam airport from Chicago, after US authorities spotted “suspicions items” in their luggage.
One man’s bags contained a mobile phone strapped to a medicine bottle, knives and watches, said US officials.
However, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security said none of the items were dangerous “in and of themselves”.
But the information was passed to the Dutch authorities, who held the men.
They were travelling on United Airlines Flight 908 from Chicago O’Hare to Amsterdam Schiphol.
One man, who started his journey in Birmingham, Alabama, was reportedly stopped there because of his “bulky clothing”, ABC News reported.
Security staff found one mobile phone taped to a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, three other mobile phones taped together and several watches, also taped together.
But he was cleared for travel, as no explosives were found, the US network said, quoting officials.
“The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves and as we share information with our international partners, Dutch authorities were notified of the suspicious items,” the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
US federal air marshals were travelling on the flight.
NBC News reported that US concern about the incident was “low”, but the authorities wanted to make sure that this was not an attempt to test airline security prior to a future attack.
A Nigerian man was detained in the US on Christmas Day, after flying from Amsterdam to Detroit, and charged with trying to detonate a bomb.
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