LAX passenger stopped with fireworks in carry-on

Snickers bars filled with meth - A Long Beach resident tried to smuggle 45 candy bars filled with methamphetamine out of the US. According to the Daily Mail, the man was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport before he almost managed to board a flight to Japan with over US$250,000 worth of "candy bars."

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Miniature monkeys - Police at the Mexico City International Airport detained a man after they noticed a strange bulge underneath his t-shirt. Turns out he was concealing 18 miniature Titi monkeys. ABC News reported that he was searched when officials noticed him behaving "nervously."

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Baby flesh - A 2012 haul in South Korea intercepted thousands of pills filled with powdered skin from dead babies. As reported by The Telegraph, "some people believe them to be a panacea for disease."

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Live exotic fish - A woman was caught in a fishy situation at Melbourne airport after Australian Customs Service officials noticed "flipping noises coming from the vicinity of her waist," said NBC News. The woman, who was flying from Singapore to Australia, was found wearing a specially-designed apron underneath her skirt containing 15 plastic bags filled with live tropical fish.

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Human eyeballs - This might just be one of the weirdest contraband stories. According to The Daily Mail, ten human balls floating in a jam jar were found inside the luggage of a passenger traveling to Stansted Airport, London, in 2007.

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And of course, a person - In one hilarious case, a woman in Mexico tried to smuggle her partner out of prison by packing him inside a suitcase. According to the BBC, the woman herself was then arrested.

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Cocaine breast implants - Spanish police arrested a woman who landed in Barcelona's El Prat Airport with cocaine stuffed inside her breast implants. According to Reuters, the Panamanian woman was flying to Spain from Bogota, Colombia, with 3 lb (1.38 kg) of cocaine inside her implants.

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Tiger cub in a suitcase - In 2010, a woman was found trying to smuggle a live tiger cub in her suitcase among a bunch of stuffed toys. Officials at the Bangkok airport spotted the animal as the woman was trying to board a flight to Iran. According to NBC News, the cub would have been worth around US$3,000 on the black market in Iran.

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Crocodiles - Reuters reported that during that same operation, Thai custom officers also seized seven false gavials, a freshwater crocodile species, worth around US$300 each at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

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Stuffed armadillo - As reported by The Daily Mail, Australian officials in Sydney seized a stuffed Texan-style armadillo, dressed in a tiny cowboy hat and holster. Australia is known for having very strict laws on wildlife importation.

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Goat meat stuffed with cocaine - A man flying from Trinidad to the US was stopped at JFK Airport in New York after trying to enter the country with over three kg of cocaine—stuffed inside frozen goat meat. The Daily Mail reported that the man was caught after US Customs looked at the X-ray and noticed strange rectangular-shaped boxes inside the bags of meat.

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An Egyptian sarcophagus - In 2008, customs officials at a Miami airport found a 3000-year-old wooden sarcophagus that had been shipped from Spain. News24 said the relic was eventually sent back to Egypt, from where it had been stolen 125 years earlier.

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Severed seal's head - A biology teacher was caught with a severed seal's head in his suitcase in 2004. According to him, he had already found the seal dead on the beach and was keeping the head for "educational purposes." According to the New York Times, officials at Logan International Airport, Boston, confiscated the body part.

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Literal drug mules -

Two hundred donkey-shaped cement statues filled with over 1,764 lb (800 kg) of marijuana were seized by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in California. According to NBC Los Angeles, the cargo container seized at Los Angeles/Long Beach port contained US$1.5 million worth of marijuana.

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Frogs in a film canister - In 2004, Belgian police apprehended more than 500 exotic frogs that were being smuggled into the country from Panama by two Belgian citizens. Reuters reported the exotic frogs were being carried in film boxes, and were worth about €150 (US$156) each.

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Cow brains -

Cow brains are considered a delicacy in Egypt and there is a growing smuggling trend taking place in the country. NBC said customs officials at Cairo International Airport stopped three men from Sudan who attempted to smuggle almost 440 lb (200 kg) of cow brains into the country back in 2012.

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Hundreds of tarantulas - Two hundred tarantulas were confiscated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011. According to Reuters, a German national admitted to mailing the animals to the US, including 22 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas, which are internationally protected.

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Sweet tooth - In 2010, a man was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for carrying US$100,000 worth of cocaine stuffed inside candy Easter eggs. Funnier still, CNN reported that the man tried to smuggle the "Easter eggs" two days before Christmas.

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A chainsaw - At New York’s Elmira Corning Regional Airport, a man tried to carry a gassed-up chainsaw through the checkpoint. The Daily Mail said the surprising part was that the man was actually allowed to board the flight with the object—he just had to remove the fuel first.

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Steroids in lube bottles -

In 2008, Australian customs officials confiscated 150 bottles of lubricant that actually contained illegal liquid steroids.

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Tarantulas, centipedes and ants -

A South Korean citizen was arrested for attempting to smuggle 300 tarantulas, 110 centipedes, and nine bullet ants. The insects, wrapped in ziplock bags and strapped to his abdomen, were discovered during a search, as detailed in a statement. The man, traveling to South Korea via France, was detained by police. An investigation has been opened by Peru's environmental crimes prosecutor. It is believed the insects were taken from the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon, and they are now under the care of local authorities.

LAX passenger stopped with fireworks in carry-on

Plus other unusual smuggling cases

23/12/24 | StarsInsider

TRAVEL Crime

Despite the TSA's strict rules and tight security, a passenger flying from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) terminal 4 on December 15 was suspected of smuggling when the screener saw suspicious items on the X-ray machine. After a thorough search of the bag, they found 82 fireworks, three knives, two replica firearms, and a canister of pepper spray.
The passenger, who was flying to Philadelphia, was interviewed by police while the bomb squad confiscated the fireworks.

Humans can be very creative at times, especially when money is at the end of the road. Even though the likelihood of getting through the security checkpoint with contraband is minimal, it doesn't stop people from trying to smuggle all sorts of things into foreign territories—from drugs to live animals.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Click to see some of the most bizarre contraband schemes ever intercepted.