Pennsylvania Man Caught Trying to Smuggle Turtle in His Pants Through Security at N.J. Airport
Mar. 15, 2025A security checkpoint at Newark Liberty International Airport alongside a photo of the turtle.Photo:Yehyun Kim for The Washington Post via Getty; TSA photo
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Yehyun Kim for The Washington Post via Getty; TSA photo
A man has been caught trying to smuggle a turtle through airport security in a rather unusual location.
On Tuesday, March 11, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) revealed in apress releasethat the individual from Pennsylvania was caught with a turtle in his pants at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on March 7.
The discovery came after an alarm on a TSA body scanner was activated in the man’s groin area.
“A TSA officer administered a pat-down of the area of the man’s body where the alarm was triggered and in doing so, determined that there was something concealed in the area of the man’s groin,” the release read.
Officials added, “When asked if there was something hidden in his pants, the man, a resident of East Stroudsburg, Pa., reached down the front of his pants and pulled out a live turtle that was wrapped in a small blue towel.”
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The turtle inside a box at Newark Liberty International Airport.TSA photo
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TSA photo
TSA officials said the turtle was around 5 inches long, and the man told staff the reptile was a red-ear slider turtle.
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Aerial view of Newark Airport, New Jersey.Getty
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Getty
“I commend our officer who conducted the pat-down in a very professional manner in an effort to resolve the alarm,” Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey, said in a statement. “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.”
source: people.com
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