TSA’s 2025 Wildest Confiscations and the Question Is This What I Think It Is
It was the art of the conceal. Despite TSA’s best efforts to prevent flyers from smuggling bizarre items in their carry-on luggage, there will always be a deluge of travelers who think they are immune to the rules. Airports might have recently tightened security measures with the Real ID requirement and a biometric facial scanning technology to make the screening process more secure, but last year, officers still witnessed travelers attempting to sneak everything from BB guns to ninja weapons through TSA checkpoints. And the lengths — and lies — travelers will go to conceal these forbidden items are baffling. “I think that’s what shakes things up a bit when you’re seeing not just the passenger having something in a bag, but they are really deliberately doing a lot of work to hide things,” Gabrielle Connor-Findley, a TSA officer based out of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), told The Post. “I think that’s what makes it more interesting and the fact that we can actually find it more challenging.” As a warning to prospective smugglers, The Post rounded up some of the most bizarre items passengers have attempted to sneak into airports around the country in 2025, according to the TSA. In October of last year, at EWR, a TSA officer discovered a handgun hidden in a guitar case like something out of the 1995 action flick “Desperado.” “Clearly, the officers are paying really good attention and yeah, I’m super proud of that,” Connor-Findley told The Post. “We are very well trained, we are really alert, and we care on top of [it] all.” When confronted by the Port Authority Police over his “instrument of destruction,” the unnamed passenger said he wasn’t aware of the firearm’s presence. “He said that the guitar case was a gift from someone else,” Connor-Findley recalled. “He had no idea that it was in there, which is something that we hear.”
In This Article:
- Handgun Hidden in a Guitar Case at Newark Liberty International Airport
- Concealed BB Gun Hidden in Lining at Newark Liberty International Airport
- December Throwing Stars at EWR Terminal A
- Stun Gun Hidden in a Flashlight at BWI
- Incognito Knife Hidden in a Belt Buckle at BWI
- Money-Themed Comb Knife at Newark Terminal B
- Drugs Hidden in Shoe at BWI
- False Alarm at EWR Terminal A: Montessori Toy Mistaken for Bomb
- A Final Word on Mistakes and the Illusion of Security
Handgun Hidden in a Guitar Case at Newark Liberty International Airport
In October of last year, at EWR, a TSA officer discovered a handgun hidden in a guitar case like something out of the 1995 action flick “Desperado.” “Clearly, the officers are paying really good attention and yeah, I’m super proud of that,” Connor-Findley told The Post. “We are very well trained, we are really alert, and we care on top of [it] all.” When confronted by the Port Authority Police over his “instrument of destruction,” the unnamed passenger said he wasn’t aware of the firearm’s presence. “He said that the guitar case was a gift from someone else,” Connor-Findley recalled. “He had no idea that it was in there, which is something that we hear.”
Concealed BB Gun Hidden in Lining at Newark Liberty International Airport
In late June, an EWR TSA officer identified a high-threat item during an X-ray screening and flagged it to the Port Authority Police. A subsequent bag exam revealed that the item was a concealed BB gun that had been cleverly hidden in the lining of the flyer’s luggage. Guns seem to be one of the most common items stopped at TSA.
December Throwing Stars at EWR Terminal A
In December, throwing stars, which are small, metal blades, often with 3-8 points, were detected at EWR Terminal A — a discovery that Connor-Findley described as “very odd.” “It’s just not something that you see,” she told The Post. “You’re going to take a double, triple look. You’re like, ‘Is this what I think it is?'”
Stun Gun Hidden in a Flashlight at BWI
A TSA officer at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) was “stunned” after busting a passenger attempting to sneak an artfully concealed flashlight taser through security in mid-September. Police confirmed that the item was indeed a surreptitious stun gun, whereupon it was surrendered to the TSA for disposal. “That officer was pretty sharp,” she revealed.
Incognito Knife Hidden in a Belt Buckle at BWI
In July, an officer at BWI detected an incognito knife hidden in a belt buckle. The Maryland Transportation Authority Police responded and conducted the search and the passenger handed the item over to the TSA to dispose.
Money-Themed Comb Knife at Newark Terminal B
An EWR employee was busted with a money-themed comb knife in Terminal B, after which they were arrested. Connor-Findley told The Post that this bust illustrated the lack of bias in the TSA security system, declaring, “They’re not letting anything past them just because it’s an employee.”
Drugs Hidden in Shoe at BWI
In December, a BWI TSA officer spotted drugs that a passenger had hidden in a paper towel inside their shoe. They alerted Maryland Transportation Authority Police, who conducted a search and seizure.
False Alarm at EWR Terminal A: Montessori Toy Mistaken for Bomb
In October at EWR Terminal A, TSA agents spotted a “bomb” that actually turned out to be a Montessori Children’s Switch Board Toy. However, its smorgasbord of buttons and wires made it resemble an assembled improvised explosive device (IED) and prompted a response from law enforcement, including an explosive specialist.
A Final Word on Mistakes and the Illusion of Security
What do you think? Post a comment. “You have certain toys where just the makeup of it in the bag…sometimes it’s just the proximity to something else in the bag…can really distort things,” said Connor-Findley. “We definitely come across household items, lots of different items that look like other things,” the TSA officer added. “But it’s great for everyone getting on that flight that it was just a box of cereal.” My granddaughter has one of those switchboard toys. I can see it looking like something else on an X-ray machine. That’s something I’d probably pull out and put in the basket instead of leaving it in my bag. Better yet, leave it at home. Plenty of other toys you can bring aboard which won’t cause panic. So TSA stumbled over a gun in a guitar case. Big deal, even a blind hog finds a few acorns once in a while. TSA doesn’t provide security, they perform “security theater”. To the masses, it looks like they’re doing something worthwhile. If TSA is so good, why to the gates at ElAl in NY and Conti... This! It’s the “illusion” of security. Meanwhile, who is checking the flight meals trucks and delivery folks coming in the back gates? Who is doing random checks on aircrews and airline employees -- many of whom are contractors now? Who is “checking the checkers” because there seems to be a LOT ... So, I am guessing that none of the knife-carrying folks tried to explain it away by quoting Gibbs' Rule #9: “Always carry a knife”? I still get a kick out of episode 1 of the series, which took place back in 2003. As Gibbs and Tony were in the process of getting checked by a TSA agent, Tony explain... They never stopped millions of dollars in CASH going out in suitcases at Minneapolis International Airport to Somalia. Millions and millions in cash being shipped out of Minnesota the last several years. But you better not try to bring on that bottle of water.
