Snakes (almost) on a plane: Here were the TSA’s top finds of 2024
“Snakes on a Plane” might have been more than just a campy movie starring Samuel L. Jackson if not for a sharp-eyed Transportation Security Administration officer.
According to the TSA, an agent discovered the snakes at a Miami International Airport checkpoint on April 26, stuffed in a bag and then hidden in a passenger’s pants. A photo released by the agency shows two small, pinkish snakes alongside the camouflage sunglasses bag where they were found.
The slithery surprise was among the highlights of the 2024 edition of the TSA’s annual Top 10 Best Catches list.
Released via a YouTube video featuring cameos from Elmo, the cast of “Wicked” and Snoop Dogg, this year’s list even features a local find — a vaping device detected inside a tube of toothpaste at Midway International Airport in February.
“9 out of 10 dentists don’t recommend hiding your vape inside of your toothpaste,” the TSA said.
Among the other top finds:
· A disassembled 9 mm handgun located in a Black Panther Lego set at New Jersey’s Newark International Airport in October.
· In perhaps a natural pairing for some, marijuana was found hidden in a jar of peanut butter at Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina.
· You’ve heard of a tempest in a teapot, but what about a pistol? In June, officers at Portland International Airport in Oregon found a handgun wrapped in foil and stuffed inside a teapot along with several — we’re not kidding — shot glasses.
· Methamphetamine was found stuffed in the crutches a passenger brought to New Hampshire’s Portsmouth International Airport in October.
· Someone tried to sneak a replica improvised explosive device (IED) made with a walkie-talkie radio on a plane at El Paso International Airport in Texas.
· And topping the list was a passenger who tried to smuggle a handgun at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport by hiding it in the seat pocket of a stroller.
For the rest of the top 10, check out the TSA’s video at www.youtube.com/@tsa.
Interstate shootings dip
Three years after a record number of shootings on Chicago-area expressways prompted widespread outrage, the creation of a state task force and the installation of dozens of cameras and license-plate readers, Illinois State Police dropped some good news this week.
Shootings on Illinois interstates plunged for the third consecutive year, from 129 in 2023 to 89 last year — a 31% decline — state police say.
After the high-water mark of 310 in 2021, there were 189 reported in 2022.
Seventeen of the shootings last year resulted in injuries, down from 37 in 2023 and 133 in 2021.
ISP boss Brendan F. Kelly credited a broad approach that’s included license-plate readers and additional staffing. Air operations in particular have been a “game changer” according to state police.
“ISP uses its Air Ops to help track vehicles and individuals fleeing from officers, reducing the risk of a high speed pursuit that can result in a fatal crash,” the agency said.
State police said 2024 also saw a 7% decrease in fatal crashes, a 3% increase in illegal firearms seized and a 24% increase in stolen vehicles recovered.
The not-so-good book
Sometimes there is more to a story than meets the eye. That was the case on Jan. 9, when a pair were arrested on mail theft allegations in Oak Brook and police searched their vehicle.
According to a DuPage County prosecutors’ petition seeking pretrial detention for Tiffany Main and Patryk Zubrzcki, police officers who arrested the duo after a car chase found what appeared to be a small Bible in their vehicle.
Further examination, however, revealed that the purported “Good Book” was really a lockbox. And in it, police discovered numerous counterfeit or stolen IDs, including a work badge for an energy company and seven Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification cards, according to the petition.
The petition states Zubrzcki, 41, of River Grove, told police that he and Main, 32, of Arlington Heights, selected Oak Brook because they had been told “it would be a good place to get checks from.”
Authorities say officers found at least 100 blank checks belonging to a Mount Prospect business in the car. They later learned the business had lost $3,000 via stolen checks, authorities said.
An OSHA trainer told police he had been expecting to receive the certification cards in the mail in early December, according to the petition. Because they never arrived, the people for whom they were intended have been unable to work, he told police.
Police also found a dog in the car when they arrested the pair. Police took the dog to the Hinsdale Humane Society, authorities said.
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