Peanut butter jars set off airport alarm in New York, TSA says. Now, a man is arrested

Jars of peanut butter stashed in a traveler’s checked baggage at a New York Metropolis airport triggered an alarm which resulted in his arrest.

On Thursday, Dec. 22 , TSA officers at John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport opened the checked bag after it set off an alarm when passing by means of an X-ray, in response to a press release from the company.

They eliminated two jars of JIF creamy peanut butter from the baggage, every of which contained items of a dismantled semi-automatic handgun “artfully hid inside,” the company said.

The components, together with {a magazine} loaded with .22 caliber bullets, have been encased in plastic and shoved into the peanut butter, in response to the company.

Once they discovered the weapon, officers contacted police who confiscated the gun components and tracked down the person who owned the baggage in an airport terminal, the company said. The person, a resident of Rhode Island, was arrested.

“Our officers are good at their jobs and are centered on their mission—particularly throughout the busy vacation journey interval,” John Essig, the TSA’s federal safety director for JFK Airport, said.

The person, whose identify has not been launched, might be slapped with a civil penalty of as much as $15,000, in response to the TSA.

To ensure that firearms to be legally transported on a aircraft, they should be positioned in checked baggage, correctly packed and unloaded, and declared on the check-in counter, the company said. The particular person checking the weapon should even have a correct allow.

Earlier this yr, officers at an airport in Pennsylvania found vape canisters and plastic-wrapped marijuana hid in a jar of peanut butter after an alarm was triggered, in response to earlier reporting from McClatchy Information.

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Up to now in 2022, 6,301 firearms have been intercepted at airport safety checkpoints, surpassing the earlier document in 2021, in response to the TSA. Eighty-eight % of the firearms discovered have been loaded.

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