The 10 most bizarre & shameless items confiscated by airport security last year

AIRPORT security services have revealed the 10 craziest things they confiscated in 2022, including grenades, drugs and guns hidden in strange places.

Passengers are constantly coming up with new ways to bring things they shouldn’t on planes and last year was no different.

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As a result, the American Transport Security Administration (TSA) revealed their ten “best catches” of 2022.

1. Dodgy money hidden in crutches

Taking cash on planes isn’t illegal, but flying with a lot of it is a great way to raise suspicion, particularly if it looks like you’re trying to hide it.

At El Paso International Airport, a passenger was caught by security guards trying to smuggle “soiled” cash onto a flight, by hiding it in a pair of crutches.

2. Inert hand grenade

While taking money on planes is a grey area, weapons are not. They’re simply not permitted.

That didn’t stop one passenger at Milwaukee international airport trying to bring a hand grenade on board.

Although the grenade was inert, meaning it can no longer explode, airport security – and probably other passengers – would prefer to not take the chance.

3. Cattle prods

Another dangerous item that shocked security guards last year was a cattle prod. Actually, several of them.

A guitar case full of the electric poking sticks was put through security scanners at Dulles airport, Virginia.

Needless to say, they weren’t permitted on board the plane.

4. Playstation

Taking a games console on board a plane isn’t illegal, but one that’s simply being used to hide something else could well be.

Security staff at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta found a gun hidden inside a Playstation.

They weren’t interested in playing any games with that passenger. Or letting them fly.

5. Hair scrunchies

There’s nothing wrong with tying your hair up for a flight, but some people use scrunchies to hide other things, as a way to get past airport security.

Eagle-eyed TSA staff spotted drugs hidden inside the hair-ties at Boise airport, as they stayed one step ahead of the game and stopped them being taking on board.

6. Laptop

Most people take electronic devices on board planes with them nowadays, with laptops and tablets very common.

However, some passengers try to use the gadgets to sneak less acceptable items on board.

One passenger at Richmond International hid a knife in an empty laptop, but it was picked up by the airport security scanners.

7. Arm sling

We saw people pretending to be disabled to get around airport queues last year, but other people faked injuries for even worse reasons.

A person at Rochester airport, New York, pretended to have a broken arm, so they could hide a gun in their arm sling.

They were promptly disarmed by the TSA staff.

8. Peanut butter

When trying to hide illegal items, a tub of peanut butter is a terrible place to consider.

But someone at JFK airport in New York City thought putting a gun in one would help them to get it through security unnoticed.

For one, peanut butter actually counts as a liquid so can’t be brought through security anyway,

But a more important reason is that the airport scanners can clearly see what’s hiding inside.

9. Raw chicken

Passengers have been known to fly with raw food and, on certain routes, it’s not against the rules.

However, hoping you can pass a gun off as the stuffing inside a raw chicken is a terrible idea.

That didn’t stop one passenger at Fort Lauderdale from trying it though. Unsurprisingly, they were caught.

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10. Packs of sweets

Airport security wouldn’t usually prevent people from taking sweets on a plane, but these sweets weren’t quite what they seemed at first.

Some crafty passengers had replaced the sweets in the packet with drugs, which they thought looked enough like the confectionary to get past the security scanners.

However, that wasn’t the case and they were caught.

Meanwhile, passengers were surprised on a recent flight when an animal broke free and started roaming around in the aisles.

And these are some of the weirdest animals to have been spotted in plane cabins, including a baby kangaroo and a mini horse.

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