CLEVELAND — The Transportation Security Administration’s list of the top 10 unusual items found at checkpoints nationwide was released this week.
The list is a head-scratching collection of items that highlights a turbulent year for the agency as airports have dealt with another year of pandemic-related issues.
This year's catalog ranges from a chainsaw flagged at security at a checkpoint in New Orleans to a breakfast burrito stuffed with methamphetamine.
Other items seized include bullets stuffed into a deodorant bottle, a machete, live fireworks, bear spray and a western-style handgun.
TSA confiscated nearly 5,700 firearms at checkpoints in 2021, the highest number ever recorded in a single year.
Roughly 20 firearms were taken by security at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in 2021. TSA attributes the number of guns taken to a spike in the number of Americans carrying firearms.
The news comes as the security agency saw the largest number of holiday travelers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 holiday season brought more than 110 million Americans to airports around the country, according to the agency.
December 26 alone saw nearly 2.1 million people screened at TSA stations.
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