The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released its list of the top 10 most bizarre items people tried to take onto planes in 2023.
The TSA screened over 858 million people last year, according to a press release, and among the hoards came some disturbing luggage. The list of items that didn’t fly with the agency ranges from shocking to dangerous. “Check out TSA’s Top 10 Best Catches of 2023,” the TSA wrote on 9 January in a thread on X, which included pictures of each wild find.
Naruto throwing knives made the bottom of the list. The knives were discovered in a carry-on bag at Boston’s Logan International Airport, the agency said.
The TSA ranked four replica rockets at number nine. They were found at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport in a checked bag.
“Any way you slice it, #8 was a bad idea,” the agency wrote punnily about finding a knife inside of a “loaf of keto bread.” The picture captures the knife embedded in a loaf of sliced bread, wrapped in plastic. It was found at the one and only Seattle Tacoma International Airport.
The list got spicier at number seven, when the TSA uncovered a bag of meth inside a container of crab boil seasoning powder. “Not quite a well-seasoned plan,” the agency joked, noting it was found in New Orleans.
At number five, TSA said that at Charlotte, North Carolina airport, the bomb squad revealed a 35mm projectile in a passenger’s bag.
In Anchorage, Alaska, the agency discovered a knife hidden inside a prosthetic foot. “Not the sharpest idea…” the TSA quipped.
The number four spot was awarded to a fully loaded firearm, also discovered in New Orleans Airport. “It was fully loaded with 163 rounds of ammo. If you’re flying with a firearm, please scope out how to properly pack and declare it first,” the TSA said.
The TSA made an “explosive find” when they discovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) CO2 cartridge in Sacramento.
At number two, the agency found a smoking gun when they came across weed hidden inside of a diaper at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Finally, the top find was an “inert IED” tucked inside of a Bang Energy drink at Oklahoma’s Tulsa Airport. “Not an energizing way to start the day at the airport, that’s for sure,” the TSA wrote.
The jokes aside, on 10 January, the TSA said that it “intercepted” more than 6,700 firearms at airport security checkpoints — 93 per cent of them were loaded. Alarmingly, 2023 broke the record for the most firearms stopped in one year.
