A man was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York on Monday, September 9, when Transportation Security Administration officers found a gun among his carry-on items at one of the airport checkpoints.
The .40 caliber handgun was accompanied by 20 loose bullets. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers found the gun wrapped in fiberglass inside a case covered in tar.
This was the sixth gun found by TSA officers at JFK security checkpoints so far this year – triple the number discovered at the airport in 2018.
When the TSA officers spotted the gun, they contacted the Port Authority Police, who arrived at the checkpoint, confiscated the firearm and detained the man, a resident of Barbados, for questioning, before arresting him on weapons charges.
More than 4,000 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the USA in 2018, a 7% increase on the previous year.
