Transportation Security Administration officers got quite the surprise on Sunday when they opened two pieces of checked luggage at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on Sunday The suitcases were jam-packed with cans and boxes for baby wipes, coffee, floor dusting sheets, lemonade mix, iced tea mix, a box of cat litter and a box of laundry tablets. But none of those boxes or cans contained the products on the labels.
Instead, TSA officers detected two disassembled .40 caliber handguns, 350 rounds of ammunition, four magazines for the guns and 58 bricks of marijuana totaling 33 pounds, all artfully concealed in the boxes, tubs and cans of everyday household products.
TSA officers immediately notified Port Authority Police, who responded to the checked-baggage room, confiscated the items and tracked down the traveler to make the arrest.
The owner of the bag, a woman, was in possession of a Canadian passport. She was arrested on state charges. Her ticket was to fly to Barbados.
TSA officers at JFK International Airport screen approximately 73,000 pieces of checked baggage per day.