We may shake our heads at the TSA’s antics from time, but the men and women holding you up at airport security are actually dealing with some pretty scary prospects. Like loaded firearms. And grenades. And daggers. And for whatever reason, a hell of a lot of sword canes. Here are some of the craziest things people have tried to sneak past US airport security in 2014.
Because the TSA details some of the more absurd confiscated contraband on its blog on a weekly basis, we get a first hand look into the boldest (and often dumbest) attempts at sneaking strictly forbidden items into airports. And after a whole year of swiping banned goods, it was quite a haul.
The Weird
WWII Blasting Machine, Atlanta, GA:
Spear gun, Las Vegas, NV:
Inert warhead, Tucson, AZ:
Cannon barrel, Kahului, HI:
Hairbrush dagger, Fairbanks, AK:
F bomb, Milwaukee, WI:
Bear attack deterrent, Anchorage, AK:
Stun cane, Tampa, FL:
A mallet, Burlington, VT:
The Concealed Knives
Knife in a hard drive caddy, Dayton, OH:
Scooby Doo razor blades, Newport News, VA:
Knife taped to carry-on bag, Pheonix, AZ:
From top: Belt buckle knife, Rapid City, SD; Bladed survival tool in shoe, Philadelphia, PA:
Lipstick knife, Detroit, MI:
Knife in phone case, Tampa, FL:
Saw in bible, Orlando, FL:
Knife in enchilada, Santa Rosa, CA:
The Drugs
3 pounds of cocaine inside meat, San Jose, CA:
Marijuana and marijuana paraphernelia in various types of peanut butter jars, Denver, CO (left) and Sacramento, CA (right):
A plastic bag containing 67 pills hidden inside of a hollowed out textbook:
81 pounds of marijuana, Oakland, CA:
92 pounds of marijuana, Phoenix, AZ:
The Sword Canes
Douglas County, NE:
Dayton, OH:
Charlotte, NC:
Memphis TN:
The Dumbest Things Said
- An Albuquerque (ABQ) passenger stated the following to a gate agent: “I have explosives in my pocket. We all have bombs. I have cyanide in my wallet.” He didn’t have explosives or cyanide.
- A Rochester (ROC) passenger approached a ticket counter to check in and stated to the ticket agent that he had a bomb in his bag. He didn’t have a bomb in his bag.
- After alarming the explosives trace detection machine at Midway (MDW), a traveller stated that she “wouldn’t mind blowing this whole place up.”
- After realising his flight had departed with his checked baggage onboard, a Miami (MIA) passenger asked a gate agent: “What if I had a bomb in my bag?”
- During a bag search at the New York Kennedy airport (JFK), a passenger stated: “Why you looking in my bag? There’s a bomb in there.” There was no bomb in his bag.