Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners have undoubtedly come across some head-scratching items over the past decade but 2019’s list of wacky items might just take the cake—don’t worry, those are allowed.
Officers seized plenty of things from naughty passengers this year, mostly weapons and drugs, including hundreds of pounds of marijuana and a potpourri of martial arts weapons from a passenger at Colorado Springs Airport on Valentine’s Day.
In March, screeners confiscated a pair of replica cowboy guns and a samurai sword from a traveler at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
TSA officers at Alaska’s Juneau International Airport uncovered a bag of “nuggets” that had nothing to do with chicken in April. In this case, the passenger was returning home with a bag of dried moose poop. The smelly souvenirs weren’t seized but they prompted a warning from TSA.
“While TSA has no policies that would prevent you from traveling with a bag of animal poo, we would strongly suggest that you check with your airline on their policies,” the agency wrote in an Instagram post.
In June, screeners seized some shiny keychain pepper spray from an unsuspecting passenger.
TSA officers seized a 3D imprinted handgun from a man at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport over the busy Fourth of July holiday this past summer. Less than one month later, security officers at Baltimore/Washington International Airport confiscated a rocket launcher from a traveler for the second time in a week.
Officers working a security checkpoint at Nashville International Airport found a knife disguised as lipstick inside of a passenger’s carry-on bag in July while screeners at Richmond International Airport uncovered a hairbrush with a knife inside.
Meanwhile, a 10-inch personalized hatchet was discovered in Richmond in August.
TSA officers at LaGuardia Airport seized a three-in-one weapon over the summer when they confiscated this threatening grenade-shaped brass knuckles-knife combination.
In one of the year’s most bizarre incidents, TSA screeners at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport found a saw blade that was accidentally left behind in the sole of someone’s shoe.
Just in time for Halloween, officers seized a gun-shaped toilet paper holder at Newark Liberty International Airport.
If you’re ever wondering whether you can travel with a particular item, be sure to visit TSA.gov and use the “What Can I Bring?” tool ahead of time or send your question to AskTSA on Facebook and Twitter weekdays from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
