The rats who want to blow up America have plenty of security holes to worm through at Port Newark.
A former Homeland Security agent and private security expert says one of the nation’s largest ports is ill-prepared to keep terrorists, common thieves or ocean-trekking stowaways at bay.
Terrorists “are looking for a weakness, and you’re standing in one of them right now,” Adam Conti, 46, told The Post during a recent visit. “This place is like a piece of Swiss cheese. There are good cops over [here], but they are outnumbered and have no resources.”
Conti, a security expert and self-described “government burglar,” was consulting for a Port Newark company when he says he sounded alarms about high crime, a lack of surveillance cameras and police patrols, and easy access to parts of the facility from Route 78 at the 2,230-acre port.
Blowing the whistle ruffled feathers at the Port Authority, claims Conti, who alleges interagency politics cost him his job.
Conti, who used to install bugs and cameras for narcotics investigations and now runs his own security company, says ships are accessible and thieves are bold enough to use chainsaws amid lax security.
The Port Authority dismissed Conti’s charges, saying Port Newark police presence has tripled in the last decade while security spending has hit $160 million, with a 24-7 operations control center, improved lighting and checkpoints.