Wacky stuff confiscated at New York Customs
MissFidget.com reader’s will be familiar with Mr Pigeon Pants. I find it extremely interesting to see all the many ways people try to smuggle things they shouldn’t.
Australian Customs recently foiled this man's attempt to smuggle in two live pigeons concealed inside his pants in tubes strapped to his calves.
This photo released by Spanish Police shows a 66-year-old Chilean man who tried to smuggle drugs into the Barcelona airport with a cast made of cocaine. The man had an actual fracture, which police suspect was done on purpose to throw officials off the scent of the drugs. The man also had cocaine in his luggage and the legs of two aluminum stools he was transporting.
These are bars of heroin (7 pounds total) cleverly disguised as chocolate candy bars. The bars were seized at Newark Liberty Airport in mid-February 2009 after they were discovered in the luggage of a woman traveling from Bogata, Colombia.
This bushmeat was confiscated in mid-February 2009 at Newark Liberty Airport. The term "bushmeat" refers to meat from animals living in "the bush" or forest - often rats, antelope or monkeys - and is usually intercepted coming from Africa.
These valuable Faberge ormanents worth an estimated $250,000 were seized at JFK International Airport in January 2009. Two British travelers failed to declare the items, which were later found to be stolen.
Customs officials in Newark busted a 27-year-old woman - a U.S. citizen returning from the island of Antigua in early Febrary - with this bottle of liquid cocaine disguised as Kahlua coffee liquor. There were also narcotics in the cap. The drugs were valued at $125,000
An 18-year-old American woman was busted returning from the Domincan Republic with these packages of cocaine disguised as canned vegetables on New Year's Eve. The six cans holding about 4.3 pounds of cocaine had an estimated street value of $200,000.
These diamonds, woth $1.2 million, were seized at JFK in late December 2008 from a U.S. citizen arriving from Tel Aviv - like most busts, this one occurred after the traveler displayed "nervous behavior."
These wooden boxes containing a total of 10 birds were confiscated at JFK in April 2008 from the luggage of three Chinese travelers. Illegal birds are euthanized to prevent the spread of foreign diseases. These wooden boxes containing a total of 10 birds were confiscated at JFK in April 2008 from the luggage of three Chinese travelers. Illegal birds are euthanized to prevent the spread of foreign diseases.
The weird & wacky stuff confiscated at New York Customs
BY Lauren Johnston | nydailynews.com | Monday, March 2nd 2009
From l., heroin concealed in candy bars, bags of cocaine and $1.2m worth of diamonds.
A man recently attempted to smuggle in two live pigeons inside his pants.
A man recently attempted to smuggle in two live pigeons inside his pants.
Attention, airline passengers: Leave the chain saws, chocolate-covered heroin bars and frozen monkey heads at home.
An Australian traveler made worldwide headlines last month when he tried to smuggle two live pigeons past airport security by concealing them against his legs under a pair of tights.
Customs and Transportation Security Administration officials at New York airports say they have just as many wacky tales to tell.
In recent months, agents have seized everything from a drug-stuffed dead cat to a 7-pound shipment of chocolate-coated heroin bars.
Then there are the weapons. More than seven years after Sept. 11, some air travelers think nothing of trying to walk onto planes armed to the teeth.
“People are still showing up at the checkpoint with loaded guns, explosives, fireworks,” said TSA spokeswoman Lara Uselding. “We got nun-chucks, Chinese throwing stars [and] swords concealed inside canes this year.”
Need to cut down a tree on vacation? You still need to read those pesky TSA rules.
“Someone even once tried to bring a fully gassed-up power chain saw through a checkpoint,” Uselding said.
Since December, customs officials at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports have seized more than $2 million worth of creatively concealed drugs, jewels and a collection of 19th-century Fabergé treasures.
In December, they seized $1.2 million in diamonds from a passenger flying in from Tel Aviv who had claimed he had nothing to declare.
They confiscated seven stolen Fabergé bowls and cutlery valued at $250,000 in January and have intercepted multiple cocaine shipments worth nearly $600,000 concealed in canned vegetables, a Kahlua bottle and an attaché case.
TSA employees manning the checkpoints need to have strong stomachs.
They’ve seen the drug-filled dead cat, a frozen monkey head and a suitcase bursting with wriggling cockroaches in the past few weeks, said Uselding.
A Chilean family once tried to wheel a dead relative through security in a wheelchair at JFK to avoid paying the fee for transporting a body.
Agents at Newark Airport recently confiscated more than 7 pounds of heroin coming in from Bogota, Colombia, disguised as chocolate bars.
The faux candy even had stamped indentations dividing the bars into realistic-looking bite-size chunks.
“Those were actually produced in a candy [factory],” said customs spokeswoman Lucille Cirillo.
Just love the cocaine cast…it actually numbs broken limbs!
And the heroin candy bars…”Chock Full of Nodding Goodness!” They’re so good, I hear they’re addictive…
Ditto on the cast… although i now i wonder about all the crazy stuff that got through!