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A pat down by an officer revealed there was something concealed in the man’s groin, the TSA said. When asked if there was something hidden in his pants, the man, a resident of East Stroudsburg, ,reached down the front of his pants and pulled out a live turtle that was wrapped in a small blue towel. The turtle was estimated to be about 5-inches in length, the TSA said.
The man told officials that it was a red-ear slider turtle, the TSA said. He was taken for questioning by the Port Authority police and the turtle was taken into custody, with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local animal control officers contacted, the TSA said.
The man missed his flight and was escorted out of the checkpoint by police, the TSA said.
“We have seen travelers try to conceal knives and other weapons on their person, in their shoes and in their luggage, however I believe this is the first time we have come across someone who was concealing a live animal down the front of his pants,” Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey said. “As best as we could tell, the turtle was not harmed by the man’s actions.”
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