Florida traveler stuffs gun into raw chicken and tries to bring on plane
Gun detected inside raw chicken at Florida airport. The chickens came home to roost for one traveler who hatched the “greasy” idea of packing a firearm inside a raw hen for their flight out of Florida.
On Monday afternoon, the Transportation Security Administration posted a picture of a gun detected inside a raw hen at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport security baggage screening room. The picture shows the gun wrapped and placed inside the chicken — where stuffing would normally sit.
TSA officials said a woman planning to travel to Haiti tried to smuggle the gun inside the dead chicken. She did not make her flight and was referred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as she was planning to fly out of the country.
A TSA spokesperson took the opportunity to reach into their bag of Thanksgiving-themed puns as they issued a warning to other travelers looking to safely travel with secure firearms.
“The plot chickens as we barrel our way closer to Thanksgiving. For us, it’s a time to be thankful that our officers are always working around the cluck to keep you safe,” the spokesperson wrote. “We hate to beak it to you here, but stuffing a firearm in your holiday bird for travel is just a baste of time. This idea wasn’t even half-baked; it was raw, greasy, and obviously unsupervised.”
Those wishing to travel and bring their guns can do so in checked baggage. The guns, however, must be unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case and declared at the airline check-in counter, TSA officials said.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport ranks typically in the top 10 or 11 in domestic airports for passengers violating federal law by bringing guns to the TSA checkpoints.
“As we enter the busiest holiday travel period, remember if you are going to travel with your gun it must be in your checked bag, but be sure you know what the gun laws are on each side of your trip or you may be heading to jail instead of to your family gathering,” TSA Spokesperson Sari Koshetz wrote in a statement. “Guns may not be legal to transport even in checked baggage in some jurisdictions.”
There have been 32 firearm detections in all New England security checkpoints this year, including 23 in Boston, which is the largest number of firearms detected in a single year. The previous record of firearms detected at security checkpoints in Boston was in 2018 when security detected 20 guns.
Despite Logan Airport’s record number, the Boston airport remains ranked 50th in checkpoint firearm detections at U.S. federalized airports.
TSA reminded passengers of the penalties they can face for having guns at security checkpoints. A fine for a first offense is typically $4,100 but can go as high as $13,669, depending on the incident.
“Feather you like it or not, there are rules for traveling with guns and ammunition. So, don’t wing it,” a TSA spokesperson wrote. masslive.com