Over the years, people have tried to sneak in illegal items through security and onto a flight in many an odd way.
According to an annual list released by the Transportation Security Administration, some of the strangest things confiscated at airports across the country in 2022 included a cattle prod stuffed inside a guitar case at D.C.'s Dulles International Airport, drugs sewn inside a hair scrunchy at Boise International Airport and a disassembled fire arm hidden inside a jar of Jif's peanut butter at New York's JFK.
Related: An entire flight has been diverted over diaper thought to be a bomb
On Dec. 20, TSA officers at New York's LaGuardia Airport apprehended a man who had tried to sneak 17 bullets "artfully concealed inside the otherwise clean disposable baby diaper."
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'Artfully concealed inside the otherwise clean disposable baby diaper...'
"TSA officers at LaGuardia Airport removed a diaper from a man's carry-on bag this morning when it triggered an alarm in the security checkpoint X-ray unit," the government agency explained further in a press release. "Inside the diaper, TSA officers unwrapped 17 bullets that had been artfully concealed inside the otherwise clean disposable baby diaper."
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While not identifying the name or age of the man, TSA said that he was an Arkansas resident and had initially tried to pretend he "did not know how the bullet-filled diaper came to be in his carry-on bag." After being questioned, he changed his mind and said that his girlfriend must have put it there.
He was then handed over to Port Authority Police and charged with unlawful possession of 9mm ammunition. He had been headed from LaGuardia to Chicago's Midway Airport — a smaller airport closer to downtown Chicago than O'Hare.
'A bullet-proof plan for packing his carry-on bag before heading to the airport...'
"Apparently this guy needs a bullet-proof plan for packing his carry-on bag before heading to the airport for his next flight," TSA concluded sarcastically. The government agency regularly puts out such posts both to show how it works to stop travelers who try to bring dangerous items onto an airplane and remind those who may have ill intentions to abide by the law.
Back in October, a diaper caused a problem on a plane in another way after the crew of a Florida-bound Copa Airlines flight from Panama City's Tocumen International Airport informed security of what they thought was a suspicious item in one of the plane's lavatories.
The Boeing 737-800 (BA) -) was already in the air but was diverted back to Tocumen Airport and waited on the tarmac as an anti-explosives team searched the plane only to find that the "suspicious item" was an adult diaper. The passenger had wrapped it in several layers of toilet paper and black plastic bags in a way that prevented an unsightly scene but made a flight attendant mistakenly think it was a bomb.
Also in October, a passenger who had worn a diaper filled with marijuana inside a plastic bag was apprehended at LaGuardia Airport. While recreational marijuana is legal in New York, it is illegal under federal law and cannot be transported through airports. The woman told security she "wanted to hide it from her mom" and was permitted to board her flight after being made to throw it out.
