A man traveling through Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Monday morning brought a missile launcher in his checked baggage, telling Transportation Security Administration officials that he wanted to bring it home from Kuwait as a souvenir.
.@TSA officers at @BWI_Airport detected this missile launcher in a checked bag early this morning. Man said he was bringing it back from Kuwait as a souvenir. Perhaps he should have picked up a keychain instead! pic.twitter.com/AQ4VBPtViG
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) July 29, 2019
TSA officers detected the missile launcher as a part of their screening process, and then tracked down the owner of the baggage for questioning, according to a press release from the agency. The man is a resident of Jacksonville, Texas. He told TSA agents that he was active military personnel traveling home from Kuwait, and he wanted the missile launcher as a kind of keepsake, per the agency.
The launcher was not a live device, according to TSA. It was given to a fire marshal for safe disposal. “Military weapons are not permitted in checked or carry-on bags,” TSA says.
After he was questioned and the launcher was confiscated, the man was allowed to catch his flight.
Natalie Delgadillo