YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A gun inside a raw chicken and a grenade are among the items that the Transportation Security Administration seized from airports in 2022.
The TSA released its annual list of “Top 10 catches,” detailing some of the more unusual finds over the year:
- Soiled money inside crutches at the El Paso International Airport
- An inert grenade from the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport
- Electric cattle prods inside a guitar case at the Washington Dulles International Airport
- A gun inside a PlayStation at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Drug hidden in hair scrunchies at the Boise Airport
- A knife hidden in a laptop at the Richmond International Airport
- A gun in an arm sling at the Greater Rochester International Airport
- A gun hidden inside jars of peanut butter
- A gun inside a raw chicken at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
- Fentanyl inside candy wrappers at the Los Angeles International Airport
According to The Washington Post, the list has been around since at least 2016, when the catches included a brandy bottle containing dead sea horses at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and a movie prop corpse intercepted at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
This year, the TSA also reported seizing a record number of firearms at security checkpoints, surpassing 6,000 in a year for the first time. More than 88% of the guns were loaded, according to a news release from TSA issued on Dec. 16.
As a result of the record number of seizures, the TSA decided last month to raise the fine for people caught with a gun in their carry-on bag, with the maximum fine going from $13,910 to $14,950.
Firearm possession laws vary by location, but guns are never allowed in carry-on bags at any airport security checkpoint, even if a passenger has a concealed-weapon permit.
Passengers who want to transport a firearm must do so in checked baggage and declare the firearms to their airline upon checking in. Airlines might also have additional requirements.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
