(WHTM) — A traveler attempting to hide a prohibited substance inside a prohibited item — and then tucking them into his groin area — was quickly caught by Transportation Security Administration officers this week.
On Monday, TSA officers at Philadelphia International Airport were alerted to a traveler at a checkpoint scanner who triggered an alarm. Upon inspection, TSA found a shotgun shell in the man's groin area. Concealed inside the shell was a white powder.
The TSA confirmed that the white powder in the altered shotgun shell was not an explosive. Philadelphia police determined that the shell contained methamphetamine and arrested the Columbia County man on a state charge.
"Our focus is ensuring that nobody attempts to bring explosives onto a flight," said Gerardo Spero, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. "We use technology and the skills of our officers and explosives experts to help ensure that explosives do not get past our checkpoints."
Spero said TSA explosives experts had only conducted a test and determined the white powder was not explosive. Police were then called to test the substance.
"We are not looking for drugs, but when we come across them, we alert law enforcement and let them handle the situation," Spero said.
TSA officials do, however, look to identify shotgun shells — as well as any caliber of ammunition — which are indeed prohibited from being carried through a security checkpoint.
"Here's the tip of the day," the TSA wrote on X. "Don't try to conceal drugs in ammunition and then stick it down your pants."