A surprising discovery at Newark International Airport led to a passenger's arrest, while also landing the airport on the TSA's most unusual checkpoint finds list for 2024.
A Mississippi man was at Terminal A of the New Jersey airport on Oct. 16, when TSA officers stopped him for what was inside his carry-on bag. The officer detected a disassembled .9-mm handgun after running the duffle bag through the X-ray machine.
While the find itself wasn't all that uncommon, how the passenger attempted to hide it certainly was.
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WATCH HEREThe TSA said the gun frame had been jammed in the bottom of a boot, below a sock that was stuffed in behind it in an effort to conceal the weapon. The rest of the handgun — the slide, spring and gun magazine loaded with 12 bullets — was detected among plastic building blocks inside a Black Panther LEGO set.
Port Authority Police were alerted, confiscated the items and arrested the man, who was set to fly to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to the TSA.
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SIGN UP "This is an example of someone who was intentionally attempting to carry a gun onto a flight,” said Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey. “He kept changing his story, first telling us that it was a toy gun and then claiming that it belonged to his brother. Regardless of his claims, what I can tell you is that it was a fully disassembled firearm that he could easily have assembled and used on a plane.”
The gun in the Lego box landed at No. 8 on the TSA's top 10 list of unusual items. The top item on the list was also a gun, but that one was found in a baby stroller at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. Here's a look at the full list:
- Gun hidden inside baby stroller — William P. Hobby Airport
- Replica explosive made out of a walkie-talkie — El Paso International Airport
- Live snakes smuggled inside pants — Miami International Airport
- Meth hidden inside crutches — Portsmouth International Airport
- Gun hidden inside a teapot, alongside shot glasses — Portland International Airport
- Hiding vape inside toothpaste — Chicago Midway International Airport
- Knife hidden inside laptop — Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
- Gun inside Lego box — Newark Liberty International Airport
- Knife hidden in shoe, and then the passenger denied knowing about it — Williamsburg International Airport
- Marijuana hidden inside peanut butter — Asheville Regional Airport
