Pre-boarding security is often considered an unpleasant experience. We might shake our heads at the security officers holding us up at the airport, but it's actually a crucial step, considering that security officers often find illegal items like firearms, drugs, and even live animals in passengers' luggage. Here are ten such strange things people have tried to smuggle on board planes.
1. Tiger cub
A passenger was detained at a Thai airport while attempting to smuggle a three-month-old tiger cub. The cub was drugged and kept in a suitcase among other stuffed animals.
In 2010, staff at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand were surprised when, during a baggage inspection, they discovered what appeared to be a real cat in a passenger's bag. Upon opening the bag, they found a live, but anesthetized, tiger cub, along with other stuffed animals. The owner of the bag, a 31-year-old Thai citizen, was planning to smuggle the three-month-old tiger cub to Iran. (1,2)
2. Dead Man
Two women attempted to smuggle the body of their deceased relative onto a plane, placing him in a wheelchair and wearing sunglasses. Suspicion only arose when airport staff attempted to check him in, and he failed to respond.
Elderly people in wheelchairs being escorted to planes is a common occurrence at airports. So, when two women were spotted checking in 91-year-old Kurt "Willie" Jarant in a wheelchair at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, nothing suspicious was noticed. However, staff became suspicious after asking him several questions and receiving no answers. After checking, it was discovered that the man in the wheelchair was dead. The two women, his widow and stepdaughter, said they thought he was asleep. They were arrested on suspicion of failing to report a death. (source)
3. Crocodile
In 2010, a man smuggled a crocodile on board a plane in a suitcase. During the flight, the crocodile broke free, causing panic among passengers, who rushed to the cockpit. This caused the plane to lose its balance and crash. The only survivors were one man and the crocodile.
On August 25, 2010, the plane was on a routine flight from Kinshasa to Bandundu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The aircraft was just a few hundred feet from its destination when it suddenly crashed, despite no technical issues. Only one person survived the crash.
A survivor of the crash told investigators this incredible story. The cause of the crash was a crocodile, which also survived. It was in a passenger's bag but somehow escaped and made its way into the cabin. When the passengers saw the live crocodile in the cabin, they were terrified. The terrified flight attendants rushed to the cockpit, followed by the passengers, throwing the plane off balance. The pilot struggled to regain control, but the plane crashed into a house. (source)
4. Gun barrel
Transportation Security Administration officers found an unloaded gun barrel in a passenger's checked baggage at Kahului Airport.
During a baggage screening prior to departure from Kahului Airport in Hawaii, TSA officers discovered a strange weapon in one of the checked bags: a gun barrel. The gun barrel was unloaded. According to the TSA, the passenger was cleared to fly, but the airline arranged for the gun barrel to be transported separately. (1,2)
5. Snakes
A Malaysian citizen named Anson Wong attempted to smuggle 95 snakes on a plane from Penang to Jakarta. He nearly succeeded when the baggage containing the snakes suddenly burst.
On August 26, 2010, a man entered Kuala Lumpur Airport to board a flight to Indonesia. The man, Anson Wong, was also known as the "Lizard King" due to his long history of smuggling exotic animals. At Kuala Lumpur Airport, he placed his suitcase on the baggage carousel when it suddenly opened. Inside the suitcase were 95 live boa constrictors, two vipers, and a turtle. He was immediately arrested. He was later sentenced to six months in prison and fined $61,000. (source)
6. Cocaine
In one case, a Chilean man attempted to smuggle drugs into Barcelona using a cocaine cast on a broken leg. In another, a passenger attempted to smuggle cocaine by making suitcases out of it.
Drug smuggling may not be new, but the ingenuity of some smugglers is astounding. A similar incident occurred at Barcelona's El Prat Airport, when a 66-year-old Chilean man arrived from Santiago. He had a broken left shin and was wearing what appeared to be a plaster cast. At the airport, police sprayed the cast with a chemical that turns bright blue when in contact with cocaine. Surprisingly, instead of a few packets of cocaine, they discovered that the entire cast was made of cocaine.
In another case, a 24-year-old woman traveling to Spain was arrested by police after the suitcases she was carrying were found to be made of cocaine. Upon inspection, the suitcases were found to be made of a mixture of pure cocaine and plastic. The cocaine, which authorities subsequently extracted through a chemical process, reportedly weighed up to 15 kilograms. (1,2,3)
7. Hummingbird
In 2011, staff at a French airport noticed a passenger's suspicious behavior and detained him. During a search, they discovered more than a dozen live hummingbirds in special bags in his underwear.
When a Dutch traveler was noticed acting excessively restless at Rochambeau Airport in Cayenne, French Guiana, authorities stopped him and searched him. After removing his trousers, they discovered an unusual cargo. His underwear contained special bags containing over a dozen live hummingbirds. The birds were wrapped in cloth and taped to prevent escape. (1,2)
8. Skeleton Nun
A Cypriot monk was detained at a Greek airport with the remains of a nun in his luggage. He told authorities he was transporting the saint's relics to his monastery.
In 2011, a 42-year-old Cypriot monk and two others were detained at the Athens airport after a skull and bones were found in the monk's luggage. The monk claimed they were the skeletal remains of a saint and intended to bury them in Cyprus. According to police, the skeletal remains actually belonged to Elena Vathiadou, a former nun who had died four years earlier. All three were charged with theft and desecration of the body of a deceased person. (1,2)
9. Turtles
In 2014, a man was arrested for attempting to smuggle over 1,000 turtles into China. Two years later, another man disguised his pet turtle as a KFC burger to sneak it through airport security in China.
In 2014, a Canadian man was arrested at Detroit Airport in Michigan while attempting to board a flight to Shanghai with more than 1,007 turtles. He had hidden the turtles in rubber boots and cereal boxes in his luggage.
In 2016, another man was arrested while attempting to smuggle his pet turtle through airport security disguised as a KFC burger. He hid the turtle in a sesame seed bun and wrapped it in KFC wrapping paper. Security personnel noticed the animal when an X-ray scanner revealed "strange protrusions" on the fast food packaging. (1,2)
10. Giant African snails
Sixty-seven giant African snails were found in a passenger's luggage at Los Angeles International Airport. They were confiscated by airport staff, as transporting giant snails into the United States is prohibited.
Although snails are served as a delicacy in some countries, they are banned in the United States due to concerns about carrying parasites dangerous to humans, including those that can cause meningitis. Therefore, in 2014, when an unusually slimy package containing 67 live snails was shipped from Nigeria to California, inspectors at Los Angeles International Airport confiscated it. After inspection, the USDA incinerated the entire package. (source)