Items
in the Strangest Places
– It’s one thing to forget you had a prohibited item in your bag, but when you
intentionally try to sneak it past us, you could wind up being cited or even
arrested by law enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where
passengers tried to sneak items past our Officers.
- A loaded .32 caliber pistol with 7 rounds was found concealed in the lining of a carry-on bag at Phoenix (PHX).
- A cheese knife was discovered inside a teddy bear at Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP).
- A razorblade was discovered concealed in a shoe at Seattle (SEA).
- A dagger concealed in a hairbrush was discovered at Rapid City (RAP).
- And yet another brush dagger… A dagger concealed in a hairbrush was discovered at Omaha (OMA).
- A comb dagger was discovered at Baltimore (BWI).
- A pocketknife was discovered wrapped in aluminum foil and taped to the bottom of a bag at Houston (HOU).
M147
Firing Device -
While resolving a checked baggage alarm on a bag at Reno (RNO), Officers found
an initiator, an M147 firing device with the words, “Danger Blasting Cap
Explosive” stenciled on the side, and two propane canisters. As
I’ve said before, we’re all too familiar with instructors and other people in
this type of business needing these sorts of items for their jobs. As with all
inert training items and replicas, we don’t know they’re not real until we’ve
gone through all the motions. This can include evacuated baggage areas and
closed checkpoints which lead to delays and missed flights. People that need to
travel with INERT items should plan ahead and contact their preferred shipper
about mailing the training aids to their destination. Read here
and here on
why inert items cause problems at checkpoints.
Body
Scanner Discoveries This Week –
There were a total of 8 illegal and prohibited items discovered this week with
the body scanners at: Fresno (FAT), 2 at San Francisco (SFO), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Tampa (TPA),
Seattle (SEA), Orange County (SNA), and Ontario (ONT). Items
were found in hands, pockets, and concealed in the groin area. Among the items
was a tube of toothpaste a passenger at SNA had concealed behind their belt and
tucked in front of his waistband.
Stun
Guns –7 stun
guns were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints around the nation at:
Columbia (CAE), Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), San Juan (SJU), Baltimore (BWI), Los
Angeles (LAX), Denver (DEN), and Gainesville (GNV).
People
Say the Darndest Things –
Here is an example of what not to say at the airport. Statements like these not
only delay the people who said them but can also inconvenience lots of other passengers
if the checkpoint or terminal has to be evacuated:
- A gate agent at Rochester (ROC) asked a passenger if he had any firearms to declare and he replied: “ no just a couple of bombs and a little dynamite, but it’s no big deal.”
Miscellaneous
Prohibited Items -
In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers
also found firearm components, realistic replica firearms, stun guns, brass
knuckles, ammunition, batons, and a lot of sharp pointy things.
Firearms
- Here are the
firearms our Officers found in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday.
You
can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be
declared to the airline.
You
can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms.
Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should
familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of
travel prior to departure.
Unfortunately
these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about
these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are
finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the
throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up
with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder
to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on
an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law
enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these
items.
If
you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you
can contact us by clicking here.
