Daniel is a copywriter who has well and truly been bitten alive by the 'travel bug'. After ticking off several North American National Parks and exploring Europe by train, his sights are now set on South East Asia. Usually with at least one camera locked and loaded, you'll find Daniel wherever there are mountains, lakes or beaches.
Forget Superman or Spiderman; TSA agents are the real superheroes in this world. Keeping our airways safe and dealing with stressed-out passengers is no easy job.
Thankfully most passengers that cross through America’s airports are law-abiding citizens, not trying to smuggle or hide any prohibited items. Yet, every so often, TSA agents come across some truly surreal things; let’s take a look at nine of them.
Handgun in an Arm Sling
It happens to everyone, right? You simply forget to take your handgun out of your arm sling before traveling!
Well, that’s what one passenger flying through Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport in New York claimed. The airport’s X-ray machine raised the alarm, with officers quickly asking the man to remove his arm support. According to the agent, the passenger simply responded: “I forgot I put it in my sling.”
Grenade
Yep, believe it or not, passengers have been caught trying to smuggle inert grenades through security.
One such device was found at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport last year, with sheriff deputies and Explosive Ordnance Disposal team members urgently dispatched to the location. Claimed by the passenger to have been purchased at an event, they were not ‘aware’ it was a prohibited item.
Cattle Prods
You know the old saying, “Never keep your cattle prods more than arm’s length away,” or at least that’s a rule one particular passenger seems to live by.
TSA agents at Washington-Dulles International found electric cattle prods hidden in a guitar case. Luckily for the passenger, but unlucky for the cattle, they were allowed to repack the devices in their checked luggage.
Gun in a PlayStation
Unlikely to become a marketing move for Sony, a passenger tried to hide their handgun inside a PlayStation last December before flying.
It was found at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport by Officer Theodosia White, who flagged the console as it went through the X-ray machine. It was clearly absent of any computer parts, and in their place was the hidden weapon.
Knife in a Laptop
Continuing on the topic of weird places to store a weapon, next up is a double-bladed knife hidden inside a laptop.
Richmond International Airport’s TSA agents were stunned to discover the weapon concealed in the laptop as it went through security. Once seized, the passenger was free to continue traveling on to their destination.
Drugs in Scrunchies
Maybe one of the more ‘out-of-the-box’ places to store drugs, it turns out scrunchies are a go-to drug smuggling device.
Raising more than a few hairs, one passenger in Boise Airport, Idaho, decided to try and hide small bags of drugs inside their hair accessory. Once discovered, TSA agents swiftly had the police deal with the passenger.
Firearm in Peanut Butter
Did a PlayStation seem an odd place to hide a gun? Well, this passenger upped the game with their attempt to smuggle a pistol in jars of peanut butter.
Agents discovered extracted parts of a disassembled handgun from two jars of Jif peanut butter. With smooth, not crunchy, as the choice, the passenger had wrapped the weapon in plastic to avoid the PB jamming up the weapon – a true criminal genius.
The best bit? Even when they only contain nuts and not firearms, peanut butter is not allowed in airplane cabins.
Weaponized Raw Chicken
OK, we think this one wins the weirdest place to try and hide a gun on the list.
In November 2022, TSA agents were given a rather unpleasant surprise after finding a handgun stuffed inside a raw whole chicken. Not all that surprisingly, the weapon was discovered at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. It’s safe to say that this passenger went hungry that Thanksgiving.
Fentanyl Candy
TSA officers were able to confiscate around 12,000 fentanyl pills from a suspect who was traveling through Los Angeles International Airport.
Alarmingly the candy was found two weeks before Halloween, hiding in boxes and sleeves of SweeTarts, Skittles, and Whoppers. Thankfully the TSA agents were vigilant that day and all pills were confiscated.
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