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The Chester, PA traveler told them the gun was "given to him by a deceased relative and he was planning to take it to Lagos, Nigeria," TSA Spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said Tuesday.
"The items were detected among the traveler’s other belongings inside his checked bag," Farbstein said. "When the TSA officer spotted the items, Port Authority police were contacted and the man was called to return to the airline check-in counter."
PAPD officers arrested him on weapons charges, she said.
“This individual knew what was in his checked bag and he intentionally attempting to conceal both the gun and ammunition to bring overseas,” said Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey.
Besides screening carry-on bags, TSA officers also screen all checked baggage before it can be loaded onto a plane, Carter said.
"This was a good catch on the part of our officers," he said.
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