TSA at MIA and FLL: 35 Guns, a Chainsaw, and a Cannonball Confiscated

Comments (0) By Chris Sweeney Thursday, Sep 20 2012
...continued from page 1

Koshetz, the TSA spokeswoman, says the agency has evolved into a critical counterterrorism force whose battles extend far beyond what the average passenger sees at a checkpoint. "Let me ask you this: Do you want to sit next to someone with a knife or a venomous snake in their pocket? Do you have blind faith in the passenger next to you?" she says.

Are travelers really just forgetting it's not OK to bring a gun or knife or sword or cannonball to the most secure public facilities of our era? Consider these items seized at MIA: a marijuana grinder designed to look like a camouflage hand grenade, and a perfume bottle shaped like four sticks of dynamite. Who would intentionally try to carry these kinds of items onto a plane?

This stuff doesn't belong on an airplane.
Jacob Katel
This stuff doesn't belong on an airplane.

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"There's a certain stress with air travel and the screening process and the delays," Chief Roy Liddicott of the Broward Sheriff's Office says. "People are nervous from the stress of air travel, so they just become forgetful, I guess." He recalls recently telling a permit-holding gun owner at the Fort Lauderdale airport that TSA screeners found a loaded firearm in his carry-on. "He almost passed out. He just totally forgot he had his gun on him," Liddicott says. When passengers have concealed-weapons permits, they're generally not taken into custody.

"We have yet to have a case that we felt the person was trying to sneak it on or had some nefarious reason to sneak it on," Liddicott says. "We've had stun guns, we've had Tasers, we've had collapsible batons. It's the same thing — people just forget."

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frankd4
frankd4 topcommenter

well at least that fancy pen was found !

fisher1949
fisher1949

This is nothing more than pandering TSA propaganda and a disgusting excuse for journalism.

 

Maybe he means devolved because TSA is certainly not improved. This is the same airport where 43 screeners were fired or disciplined for not checking luggage.

 

Does anyone doubt that TSA would be gone in days if people actually had a choice between TSA and another option?

 

This agency is nothing more than a bloated jobs program feeding on public ignorance and relying on fear mongering to maintain its budget. TSA is inefficient and focused only on its own expansion and not on the mission of airport security.

 

Some recent reports from Ft. Lauderdale and Miami TSA.

 

Ft Lauderdale

FLL TSA worker hired two months ago charged with child pornography

NBC Miami, September 13, 2012

 

Three TSA officers arrested on drug charges in Florida and New York

NY Post, September 13, 2011

 

FLL TSA agent charged in theft of $450 pen

Sun Sentinel, July 22, 2011

 

Baby, 18 months old, ordered off plane at Fort Lauderdale airport

WPBF News, May 14, 2012

 

TSA Agent Nelson Santiago Caught With Passenger's iPad in His Pants; Allegedly Took $50,000 in Other Goods, Cops Say

Broward-Palm Beach New Times, July. 8 2011

 

Bungling screeners miss knife on flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to JFK

NY Post, May 11, 2011

 

FLL Airport: TSA Told Us to Lie About Existence of Security Video

Infowars, March 21, 2012

 

Miami

TSA officer, Milagros Casanas, arrested for attempted theft, battery and disorderly conduct in Key West

Miami Herald – July 30, 2012

 

TSA employees charged with trashing South Beach hotel room, shooting gun

Miami Herald, March 28, 2012

 

Miami TSA officer and his wife charged with stealing from passengers' luggage

Fox News, January 1, 2012

 

Cuba complains that guns in luggage checked in at MIA were not stopped.

Miami Herald April 24, 2012

 

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