A man was caught trying to smuggle a human skull and bones through security at an airport – but he had a bizarre excuse for his actions, claiming they were for a ritual
A man was caught red-handed attempting to sneak ‘human remains’ past airport security in Florida, before bizarrely claiming the grisly cargo was needed for mysterious rituals.
The disturbing find was uncovered by customs officials at Tampa International Airport in Florida this week after the traveller initially declared just 10 cigars. His luggage was packed with fragments appearing to be from a human skull and various bones, alongside “prohibited plants,” airport authorities revealed.
Snapshots taken following the seizure show the bones wrapped in crumpled foil, used to keep them intact within the suitcase. The passenger insisted the items were for “rituals.”
CBP officials didn’t specify what sort of rituals were involved. It remains unclear whether the traveller is facing any charges, reports the Mirror US.
Images capture customs officers donning gloves whilst examining the material. Branded a “serious health risk”, the bones were seized and destroyed.
Carlos C Martel, Director of Field Operations at the US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Miami/Tampa Field Office, posted on social media: “What started as a passenger declaring just 10 cigars at TPA turned bizarre. CBP Agriculture Specialists uncovered prohibited plants, undeclared cigars, and a foil-wrapped duffel bag containing what looked like human remains, including part of a skull. The traveler claimed the items were for rituals, but due to serious health risks, the items were seized and destroyed.
“At CBP, we never know what baggage may hold, but smugglers should know we’ll always have a bone to pick.”
This isn’t the first occasion human remains have turned up unexpectedly at an airport.
Back in 2020, a woman and her daughter were stopped at an airport when customs officers uncovered a man’s remains in their luggage. The pair had packed his bones inside a box within their suitcase, planning to transport him back home to Armenia.
The women, aged 74 and 52, were travelling from Greece to Yerevan with a stopover in Munich when German authorities made the bizarre discovery. Customs officials, a doctor, and prosecutors were called in, but it was determined that no offence had taken place.
Just last year, an airport worker revealed his horror after finding a dead woman on a luggage conveyor belt. Virginia Vinton, a 57 year old mother of two, was discovered lifeless at O’Hare airport in Chicago by a Delta Airlines baggage handler.
Speaking to US media, he revealed that he had asked the woman if she wanted him to halt the belt before getting an “eerie feeling” as he loaded bags onto the carousel. He shouted to her, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ only to realise the 57 year old wasn’t breathing.
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