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TSA

From Snakes to Grenades, Some Strange Items TSA Found Last Year

By
Erin Corbett
Erin Corbett
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By
Erin Corbett
Erin Corbett
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February 13, 2019, 12:05 PM ET
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Snakes. Giant Scissors. Grenades in suits. These are just some of the items that made the Transportation Security Administration’s top 10 list of unusual items last year.

These oddities found while screening airport passengers and luggage are on the security agency’s Instagram account, which has about 950,000 followers. Other things the TSA discovered and confiscated include an actual brick and a bag of weed.

“Our officers aren’t looking for contraband, but if you pack…a knife or other prohibited item, you might as well stick a fork in it,” the agency joked, regarding someone packing marijuana alongside a pocketknife.

But even those weren’t the weirdest items the agency found in 2018.

One flyer tried to bring an actual snake on a plane — yes, like the horror movie, Snakes on a Plane. Some might say, “enough is enough.” TSA deadpanned. “We all know how that ended.”

At LaGuardia airport, TSA found a kitchen carving knife hidden in the lining of a baby carrier. The item ranked sixth on the agency’s top 10 list. “Legend has it they’re still looking for the baby,” one Instagrammer commented.

But the strangest item to make the list, according to the agency, was what looked like Freddy Krueger’s notorious bladed glove, featuring knives as fingers. At least “it’s safe to sleep on Elm Street,” TSA joked.

Every day, TSA officers discover a wide range of strange and dangerous items at security screening checkpoints. Here's a collection of the #topten most unusual items that were found in 2018. pic.twitter.com/YmIM2r4nRD

— TSA (@TSA) February 11, 2019

Besides the strange contraband found going through security, TSA also unearthed a record number of firearms in carry-on baggage. The agency found a total of 4,239 firearms, and 3,656 of them were loaded. The number of guns discovered is up from 3,957 found in 2017.

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By Erin Corbett
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