© TSAA snake was found inside this external hard drive, hidden inside a piece of luggage at Miami International Airport. The flight was headed to Barbados.
According to the Transportation Security Administration, officers found a python inside an external hard drive hidden inside a piece of luggage that was headed for Barbados.
"The snake, that didn't get on a plane thanks to our officers' diligent screening, had been artfully concealed inside the electronics of a hard drive and placed in a checked bag headed for a flight to Barbados," TSA spokeswoman, Sari Koshetz, told the Miami Herald Monday.
"Upon the TSA officer's discovery of the organic mass, one of our TSA bomb experts was called into the baggage screening room to investigate the innards of the hard drive and that is when he discovered the mass was a live snake," Koshetz added.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services officials responded to the scene and took possession of the snake, and the passenger was fined.
"While this mass inside the electronic device was obviously not an imminent terrorist threat to the traveling public, the interception did prevent a possible wildlife threat on an aircraft. Animals of many species have been known to escape and chew through wires with fatal results," Koshetz said.
Neither the passenger nor the snake flew to Barbados.
Comment: We should hope not!
It's not the first time a passenger tried to sneak an exotic animal on a plane in Miami. In 2011, a man strapped snakes and turtles to his body, hoping to get past the checkpoint area.
In 2012, a woman tucked a snake into her bra at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
In both cases, the animals were confiscated.
"No, turtles and snakes are not accessories permitted through our checkpoints," Koshetz said.
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