London - A turtle in a hamburger, tadpoles inside the mouth and a corpse all rank among the five weirdest items that passengers have tried to smuggle on to planes.
The list of bizarre objects, compiled by Jetcost, also reveals that a man tried to board a plane in Miami for Brazil with bags full of exotic snakes – and other reptiles in his pants.
Rather than trying to get through security with liquids more than 100ml in volume, it seems some passengers are hell-bent on getting their money’s worth when it comes to hand luggage.
Scooping first place on the list is a man identified as Mr Li, who tried to board a flight to Beijing from China’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport last year.
Security workers noticed “strange bulges” in his luggage as it passed through X-ray machines. Upon finding a turtle hidden in a burger, Li told them: “This is not a turtle, just a hamburger. There’s nothing to see.”
Second place goes to an American father who tried to smuggle weapons and ammunition in his son’s stuffed toys – including a Mickey Mouse.
Security officers made the find at the boarding area in Rhode Island’s TF Green airport in 2012.
But, after speaking to the man and confiscating the weapons, he and his 4-year-old son were allowed to fly to Detroit because it was deemed he posed no threat.
In third place, a South Korean woman was put under arrest at the Guangzhou airport when she tried to pass through security checks with her mouth full of tadpoles last year.
The woman was seen trying to board the plane with a bottle of liquid. She was given the option of drinking it or throwing it away. She chose the first option – but officials noticed she didn’t swallow it.
After being ordered to spit out the contents of her mouth, which revealed the tadpoles, she said they had been given to her by a friend and she hadn’t wanted to lose them.
Seven snakes on a plane make it into fourth place. In 2011 a man tried to board a plane in Miami for Brazil with the reptiles – including turtles – hidden in his pants.
A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration said that the creatures had been confiscated.
Making up the top five are the two women who tried to board a plane at Liverpool John Lennon Airport with a relative’s corpse in a wheelchair. They were pretending it was a passenger.
The two German women were arrested in 2010 for “failing to give notification of the death of a 91-year-old man”, who they were trying to take to Berlin.
They covered his eyes with sunglasses and pretended he was asleep.
A spokesman for Jetcost said: “Undoubtedly most flight passengers have experienced airport security controls and been forced to leave behind small bottles of water, nail clippers or even cheese, just for being too creamy. On the other hand, less innocent objects have tried to pass the inspection and even succeeded.” – Daily Mail
Five of the oddest things passengers have tried to take on a plane:
1 A turtle in a hamburger.
2 A weapon and ammunition in stuffed toys.
3 Tadpoles inside the mouth.
4 Seven snakes and three turtles (in his pants).
5 A corpse in a wheelchair made to look like a passenger.