Someone got peanut butter on their grenade ...or was it a grenade in their peanut butter?
The Transportation Security Administration said in a news release that a passenger at Indianapolis International Airport put a live smoke grenade in a jar of peanut butter.
It was discovered when the person’s checked bag set off an alarm and required additional screening. That’s when they found two live smoke grenades, including the one stuck in the full jar of peanut butter.
The one was loose in the bag, but when security personnel looked for the second they couldn’t find it easily.
Michael Dunphy, an 18-year TSA explosives specialist and former Navy explosive ordnance disposal tech, said, “After all contents were removed from the bag, I thought, ‘Weren’t there two grenades in this bag?' After additional inspection of all the contents in the bag, it became obvious the second grenade was in the peanut butter jar, so I was surprised!”
A TSA supervisor paged the owner of the bag to return to the airline ticket counter.
“With the concealment method used, we had concern about the intentions and, as a result, quickly incorporated the airport police and airline station manager to ensure we approached the traveler in a cautious and safe manner,” Indiana TSA Federal Security Director, Aaron Batt, said. “The technology in place for checked baggage performed well and gave our officers a chance to review an image that resulted in the need for physical inspection of the targeted area highlighted by the equipment.”
The passenger told the TSA that a friend said he could get the smoke grenades through checked baggage screening by putting them in a jar of peanut butter.
The agency did not release the passenger’s name and did not say what charges, if any, the person faced, but did say that trying to conceal a prohibited item will result in “severe consequences.”
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