With strict regulations on liquids, technology, sharp objects and more, plenty of people end up getting pulled aside at airports for the odd luggage item they've forgotten about. But the Transport Security Administration (TSA) has confiscated some quite unbelievable things last year, from drugs hidden inside candy wrappers to a knife inside a laptop. These are the most shocking finds of 2022...
We feel sorry for the TSA workers that made this pungent discovery. At El Paso International Airport in Texas, security guards were shocked to find soiled banknotes stuffed inside a pair of crutches which one passenger had attempted to sneak through security. As the agency put it, "it’s hard to imagine someone thinking this idea didn’t stink."
Most of us know that weapons of any kind are not appropriate hand luggage fare, but that didn’t stop one passenger trying to take an inert grenade onto a plane. The item was seized at General Mitchell International Airport in Wisconsin.
Just in case you were considering sneaking any farming equipment through security disguised as a musical instrument – well, don’t. The TSA team at Dulles International Airport in Virginia came across this poorly-hidden item and commented that it "wasn’t music to our ears".
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, one passenger tried to smuggle a firearm onto a plane inside a PlayStation games console. They didn’t get very far, however, and a TSA officer flagged the item when the console was x-rayed. Game over.
Things got a little ‘hairy’ (we're sorry) when a passenger tried their luck sneaking drugs through security in hair scrunchies at Boise Airport, Idaho. Needless to say, the TSA weren’t fooled and confiscated the offending items.
It’s a good thing TSA officers are pretty sharp at spotting hidden objects, because this passenger, who tried to smuggle a knife inside in a laptop, came up with a pretty good disguise. Clearly not good enough though – the offending item, found at Richmond International Airport in Virginia, was flagged by savvy security staff.
It's not the first item on this list to be concealed inside a medical device, and this traveller’s failed smuggling attempt brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘gunslinger’. The passenger at Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport tried to hide a firearm inside a sling and claimed he’d ‘forgotten’ to remove the item before going through security.
One foolhardy passenger was nuts enough to try getting their firearm through security in jars of peanut butter. The gun, which was seized at John F Kennedy International Airport on 22 December, had been taken apart and wrapped in plastic before being sealed in two separate jars.
Thanksgiving certainly started with a bang for the TSA staff at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. On 7 November, officers were surprised to discover a gun contained within a whole, raw chicken. Top marks for creativity; zero marks for effectiveness.
We’re extremely glad this horrific drug smuggling attempt didn’t make it past the TSA. Discovered at Los Angeles International Airport, a passenger had attempted to conceal around 12,000 fentanyl pills inside bags and boxes of sweets, according to the LA Sheriff’s Department. The find was named the TSA’s most shocking item discovery of 2022.
Although it didn’t make the TSA's official list, we were amazed to learn that one passenger tried to get a dog through security – inside a backpack. The pooch was ‘accidentally’ left in the zipped luggage at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin. Thankfully, the pup was unscathed after going through the x-ray machine, although the poor thing was in an understandably anxious state.
Now find out about the most ridiculous travel mistakes ever made