The Transport Security Administration (TSA) keeps finding weird stuff at airport security lanes. Earlier this week, the TSA reported that officers at Tampa International Airport (TPA) found a four feet boa constrictor inside a passenger’s carry-on.

Snakes on the airport

If it weren’t for the security lane, it would have been snakes on the plane, something which at a time seemed only the topic of a movie, but we have seen plenty of stories of actual planes onboard commercial planes. For instance, four weeks ago, a snake was found on an Air India Express flight from Calicut, Kerala, to Dubai. A similar incident took place in October 2022 at Newark Liberty International Airport. A harmless garter snake turned up on United Airlines flight 2030 from Tampa.

Talking about Tampa, the incident we are covering here took place on December 15. A female passenger was caught trying to sneak a snake inside her carry-on passenger. Lisa Farbstein, a spokesperson for TSA, said on Twitter,

After finding out about the boa constrictor, TSA notified the airline (we, unfortunately, don’t know which airline it was). The carrier ruled that there would not be a snake on its plane.

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TSA’s top ten catches of 2022

People often try to smuggle weird stuff inside their carry-on and checked pieces of luggage. Years after years of TSA reports on the subject have only made this statement clearer. For instance, in 2016, the TSA reported having found dead sea horses in a brandy bottle at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. In 2021, it found a chainsaw at New Orleans International Airport and bullets stashed in deodorant at Atlantic City International.

Last month TSA revealed the top ten catches of 2022, which were definitely jaw-dropping. Here it is:

  1. Fentanyl inside candy wrappers. Took place at Los Angeles International (LAX).
  2. Gun inside a raw chicken. Took place at Fort Lauderdale International (FLL)
  3. Peanut butter firearm. Took place at New York John F. Kennedy International (JFK).
  4. Gun in an arm sling. Took place at Rochester International Airport (ROC).
  5. Knife inside a laptop. Took place at Richmond International (RIC).
  6. Drug scrunchies. Took place at Boise International (BOI).
  7. Gun inside a PlayStation. Took place at Atlanta Hartfield-Jackson International (ATL).
  8. A cattle prod guitar case. Took place at Washington Dulles International (IAD).
  9. An inert grenade. Took place at Milwaukee International (MKE).
  10. Soiled money crutches. Took place at El Paso International (ELP).

Some honorary selections we chose from last year’s madness were the two kittens found inside checked luggages, the 100 pounds of marijuana in a checked bag at JFK, and the record 6,301 firearms found at security checkpoints across the United States.

What do you think about the boa constrictor incident at Tampa International? What’s the weirdest thing you have heard a passenger tried to smuggle past security? Let us know in the comments below.