Airport security officials run into a lot of weird situations on the job.
The crew at one airport thought they had seen it all.
And airport security was stunned after finding what one traveler hid in his pants.
Airport security finds shocking contraband in a man’s pants
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents confiscate contraband from travelers across the country every day.
Sometimes they find the mundane like a shampoo bottle that’s half an ounce over the regulation size for liquids on carry-ons.
TSA agents are supposed to find guns, knives, and drugs from people looking to smuggle them onto a plane.
A traveler at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey tried to smuggle something that agents had never seen before.
The Pennsylvania man was going through a body scanner when TSA agents noticed something unusual.
TSA agents pulled him aside and performed the always uncomfortable pat down when they found something strange in his groin area.
He reached into his pants and pulled out a live turtle that was wrapped in a blue towel.
Smuggling can take on many forms
The Pennsylvania man – who remains unidentified – told the TSA agents that he had a red-ear slider turtle.
It was estimated that the turtle was about five inches long.
The red-ear slider turtle is popular in the pet trade but is also an invasive species.
Red-ear slider turtles can grow to be up to 11 inches long and weigh up to two pounds.
They can live between 20 to 30 years and have distinctive red stripes on their heads where their ears would be.
International Union for Conservation of Nature officials consider them one of the worst invasive species in the world.
They’re native to the states around the Mississippi River.
Red-ear slider turtles have become one of the most popular turtle species to keep as pets but owners release them into the wild where they can wreak havoc on ecosystems where they’re not native.
They carry diseases that harm other turtle species and their larger size allows them to dominate nesting sites.
Port Authority Police were called in to question the man and they confiscated the turtle.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and animal control in New Jersey were contacted about handling the red-ear slider turtle.
Police took custody of the man and escorted him away from the security screening area.
The East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania man missed his flight.
It’s not clear if he was charged with anything for his contraband turtle or why he was trying to smuggle it onto the plane.
TSA Federal Security Director for New Jersey Thomas Carter was flabbergasted by the situation.
“We have seen travelers try to conceal knives and other weapons on their person, in their shoes and in their luggage, however I believe this is the first time we have come across someone who was concealing a live animal down the front of his pants,” Carter said in a statement. “As best as we could tell, the turtle was not harmed by the man’s actions.”
The Pennsylvania man learned the hard way about trying to smuggle a turtle in his pants.