Friday, August 3, 2012

TSA Week in Review: Miami Behavior Detection Officers Thwart Kidnapping

Behavior Detection Officers (BDO) Help Thwart Kidnapping – Two BDOs at Miami (MIA) alerted on a woman with several other passengers whose behavior seemed out of the ordinary. When the BDOs approached her and asked if she needed help, she rejected their offer. During the conversation, they noticed that she was attempting to disguise that she was badly bruised. The BDOs approached her again to ask if she was harmed by the people she was traveling with, and when she said yes, the BDOs immediately escorted her out of the checkpoint and contacted the police. After an investigation, it was learned that the woman had been badly beaten and was being kidnapped. Watch this video to learn more and hear from the BDOs who thwarted this crime.

Inert Ordnance – In addition to a spike in the number of guns found each day at checkpoints recently, we continue to find hand grenades and other ordnance on weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if something looks like a bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or not. And when these items are found at the checkpoint, they can cause significant delays to you and other passengers. I know they are cool novelty items; I used to own a few. But again, please don’t take them on planes! Read here and here on why inert items cause problems.

  • Five inert grenades were found this week at 5 different airports: St. Louis (STL), San Diego (SAN), Dothan (DHN), Minneapolis (MSP), Gainesville (GNV). A replica grenade lighter was also discovered at Rochester (ROC).
  • A realistic replica of an artillery round was discovered at Tucson (TUS).
  • An inert warhead was discovered at Providence (PVD).


Items in the Strangest Places – It’s one thing to forget you had a prohibited item in your bag, but when you intentionally try to sneak it past us, you could wind up being cited or even arrested by law enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where passengers tried to sneak items past our Officers.

  • A credit card with a concealed 2˝-inch knife was detected in a carry-on bag at Albuquerque (ABQ).
  • An artfully concealed belt buckle knife was found at Rochester (ROC).
  • A 3-inch Swiss Army knife was discovered artfully concealed in a lead-lined film bag at Tampa (TPA).

Stun Guns – 7 stun guns were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints around the nation at: Richmond (RIC), La Crosse (LSE), 2 at Denver (DEN), Dickinson (DIK), and 2 at Baltimore (BWI).

People Say the Darndest Things – Here is an example of what not to say at the airport. Statements like these not only delay the people who said them but can also inconvenience lots of other passengers if the checkpoint or terminal has to be evacuated:

  • After having their bag searched, a passenger at Bradley (BDL) stated: “Hope they get a bomb and blow you *expletive* up.”
  • After a bag search was called on a passenger’s bag at Orlando (MCO), they stated: “I have two bombs in my carry-on bag.”
  • A family member escorting a passenger at Phoenix (PHX) approached and Officer and stated “I am a former Al Qaeda individual escorting a family member to her flight.”


Miscellaneous Prohibited Items -
In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers also found firearm components, realistic replica firearms, stun guns, brass knuckles, ammunition, batons, and a lot of sharp pointy things.




Firearms - Here are the firearms our Officers found in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday.
Prohibited Bling

You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline.
You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure.


Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.

Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team

If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact us by clicking here.

The TSA Blog: TSA Week in Review: Miami Behavior Detection Officers Thwart Kidnapping