LEGO my firearm: Newark airport lands on TSA’s weirdest-finds list for 2024

When it comes to bizarre finds at airport security, Newark Liberty International Airport helped 2024 go out with a bang.

The Transportation Security Administration said Newark made its annual Top-10 list of most unusual items intercepted at checkpoints, thanks to a surprising discovery.

On Oct. 16, TSA officers at Newark’s Terminal A spotted a disassembled 9mm firearm cunningly concealed in a traveler’s carry-on bag, officials said. The parts were hidden in two locations: the gun’s frame tucked into the bottom of a boot, and the slide, spring and magazine — loaded with 12 bullets — mixed among the plastic pieces of a Black Panther LEGO set, the TSA said.

The X-ray machine told the tale, revealing the cleverly hidden weaponry in the duffle bag of a man en route to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to officials.

When officers questioned the man, his story kept shifting, they said. First, he reportedly claimed the weapon was a toy. Then he tried blaming his brother, officials said.

“This is an example of someone who was intentionally attempting to carry a gun onto a flight,” Thomas Carter, TSA’s federal security director for New Jersey, said. “He kept changing his story, first telling us that it was a toy gun and then claiming that it belonged to his brother. Regardless of his claims, what I can tell you is that it was a fully disassembled firearm that he could easily have assembled and used on a plane.”

Port Authority Police confiscated the firearm and arrested the traveler. The TSA highlighted this incident as No. 8 on its end-of-year roundup of most unusual security finds, showcased in a three-minute video on X.

For a full rundown of what you can and can’t bring through security, check out tsa.gov.