Baby Alligator at the Checkpoint
News & Happenings
TSO Luis Feliciano holds a baby alligator
found in a passenger's sock.
Transportation security officers (TSOs) are no strangers to the unusual at airport checkpoints. But for TSO Luis Feliciano of Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aquadilla, Puerto Rico, things quickly went from unusual to truly bizarre.
Feliciano was screening passengers at the checkpoint when a passenger bound for New York set off the alarm twice at the walk-through metal detector. After pulling the man aside for additional screening, Feliciano noticed an unusual movement on the man's leg.
When asked about the abnormal shifting, the passenger nervously admitted that he was attempting to smuggle onboard the aircraft a baby alligator he had placed in a sock and taped to the inside of his thigh.
Local authorities were called in and the passenger received a fine. TSA transferred the exotic reptile to officials with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources.
