Five
of the nation’s top 10 “good catches” in 2020 by the Transportation Security
Administration came from the tri-state area’s three main international
airports – Newark, JFK and LaGuardia.
The
TSA says its officers “discover a wide range of strange, weird and dangerous
items” each year.
Among
them were 107 Roman candles detected by a TSA officer at LaGuardia
Airport in November.
TSA
Also
at LaGuardia, two torch-style lighters were detected by officers along with a
“homemade container of 9-inch-long PVC pipe with end caps, which
resembled a pipe bomb.” It turned out that the item was a homemade
humidor for a traveler’s cigars.
TSA
At
Newark Liberty, TSA officers detected a long-barreled gun with “a high-powered
magazine and an arsenal of ammunition artfully concealed behind the lining of a
suitcase during checked baggage screening.”
TSA
At
JFK, the No. 2 “good catch” was found last September. It appeared to be
an improvised explosive device. According to the TSA:
“The
power component was hazardous because the traveler had tampered with and
exposed multiple lithium batteries, which created a possible explosive device.
The item was determined to be a solar panel wired to the batteries to power the
electronic item.”
TSA
The TSA listed their top "catch" as the marriage between two K-9 handlers at Newark Liberty. Their two dogs participated in their wedding.
TSA canines Obelix
and Proto participated in the June 2020 wedding of their TSA canine handlers. (TSA)