The Time Someone Tried To Get Past TSA With A Gun Inside A Chicken

We all dread going through the security checkpoint at the airport as it can be a nuisance. The long list of prohibited items and restrictions by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can leave travelers confused about what to bring and what to leave at home. Although we would have to double-check whether we can bring baby formula or bottled water onto airplanes (both are allowed), it goes without saying illegal firearms and substances are prohibited. Yet, that doesn't stop some travelers from trying to smuggle them in. According to The Washington Post, the TSA uncovered over 6,500 firearms in 2022 alone.

Since 2016, the TSA released an annual list of the top 10 prohibited items passengers attempted to smuggle through security checkpoints across airports in the United States (via The Washington Post). Throughout the years, many travelers have attempted to disguise prohibited items as food, like in 2021 when the TSA confiscated a burrito containing meth. This year's list includes several interesting attempts of sneaking weapons and drugs using everyday food items.

It's a riddle as old as time. Chickens cross roads to get to the other side. But what happens when a chicken tries to cross to the other side of an airport security checkpoint? A traveler found out the hard way trying to smuggle a firearm inside a raw chicken in Florida (via TSA).

While the TSA takes its security and protocol pretty seriously, it seems the agency likes to have fun once in a while. In an Instagram post to its more than one million followers, the TSA warned against trying to smuggle illegal items past its checkpoints, especially in raw chickens, calling it a "half-baked idea" in a pun-filled post. "Stuffing a firearm in your holiday bird for travel is just a baste of time," the agency wrote.

TSA allows travelers to bring most food in their carry-on and checked bags, such as candy and cooked meat and vegetables, according to its website. Fresh or raw meat is generally accepted if packed with ice. Of course, most firearms are prohibited on airplanes, except under certain circumstances, so hiding a gun inside a raw chicken may leave a "fowl" taste in many people's mouths — including the TSA.

In a video poking fun at the failed attempts of sneaking prohibited items past security checkpoints, the TSA continued its annual ranking of what it calls the "top catches" in 2022. Among them are a gun hidden inside a PlayStation and scrunchies filled with drugs. However, a gun stuffed inside a chicken wasn't the only strange food item the TSA found in 2022. In fact, the top three items all happened to be food-related.

While the chicken landed at number two, the third and first spots managed to be as creative and peculiar. TSA managed to stop a handgun hidden in a peanut butter jar from crossing the security checkpoint, which the agency ranked as number two. Fentanyl disguised in bags and boxes of candies, like Skittles and Whoppers, took the coveted number one spot. TSA foiled the smuggling attempt just weeks before Halloween, per The Washington Post.

As the TSA puts it, "feather you like it or not, there are rules for traveling with guns and ammunition." Next time you try to smuggle a gun inside a chicken, it probably won't fly with the agency.