NEWARK, N.J. (WCBS 880 ) -- Authorities arrested a man late Wednesday night after security at Newark Liberty International Airport found gun parts hidden in a box of weights in his checked luggage, officials said Thursday.
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According to the Transportation Security Administration, an agent discovered the firearm parts after a box labeled ankle and wrist weights was flagged for a hand search.
When the TSA officer became suspicious of the box, it was opened and the weights removed for a closer inspection, at which time the gun parts were exposed.
The traveler was a resident of Elmwood Park, N.J., was headed to Istanbul, Turkey but was detained for questioning by officials and later arrested by Port Authority Police.
He told officials that a friend gave him the luggage to transport to Turkey and claimed that he did not know that the firearm parts were concealed inside the wieghts.
“This was an excellent catch on the part of our TSA team,” said Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey. “Clearly the individual who packed the luggage knew that firearm parts were not to be transported or else they would not have attempted to conceal them in the way that they were. Not only was this individual arrested, but he also faces a stiff Federal financial civil penalty.”
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