Further security breaches at Schiphol airport have been exposed, just months after Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was accused of attempting to detonate a bomb on board an Amsterdam-Detroit flight on Christmas Day 2009.

A Dutch investigative reporter has demonstrated that it is possible to carry potentially explosive liquids through security at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and onto a transatlantic flight.

In Undercover in Nederland, on Dutch TV channel SBS6, reporter Alberto Stegeman exposed a gap in security which allowed him carry bottles of fake explosives onto flights to Britain and the United States.

The reporter found the security flaw in the airport’s duty-free shopping system. At Schiphol airport, passengers flying to countries outside the Schengan Agreement Area can buy bottles of alcohol at duty-free shops before going through security. They are then permitted to take these bottles onto flights, provided that they have the bottles sealed at the shop.

Mr Stegeman bought a bottle, emptied it and refilled it with another liquid. After that he returned to the same shop and ‘bought’ the refilled bottle again. The shop sealed the bottle in a bag, allowing him to take it with him through security and onto a London-bound flight. In London, he transferred planes and carried the bottle onto a flight to Washington DC.

This isn't the first time that Mr Stegeman has found a security flaw in at Schiphol airport. When he went through security, he was recognized and was subject to an extra-thorough check. However, officers failed to check the sealed bag. 

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide