Originally Posted by Enigma368

I often travel with a fairly big plastic wallet/card holder in my carry on. I know it is unusual but I use it to store a variety of cards than are useful when travelling. This ranges from my membership cards with different hotel chains and car rental companies, to my health insurance cards, priority passes, and oyster/octopus cards etc. I also use it store my credit cards that I am not actively using, I am a moderate card churner and have about 15-20 different credit and debit cards and it is just easiest for me to store the ones I am not actually using in there in case I need them. (Although many of them I have cancelled and I just haven't cleaned it out.) I also keep some of my other half's credit and membership cards in there for him.

My bag was pulled aside as DEN today for additional screening and they took out this wallet. The TSA agent leafed through it for a while. She called over her supervisor. She told her supervisor that there were cards in there under two different names. The supervisor and her spent some leafing through all of the cards and whispering to each other and then asked me for my ID. I gave my ID and then she asked if these cards were all mine. I said that most of them were mine but some belonged to my other half and I pointed at him(he was travelling with me). She asked his name and then took another 10-15 seconds leafing through them and -almost reluctantly - said I was good to go and gave me back my ID.

I as curious and so I asked why this wallet was being investigated and the supervisor replied that when they can't determine what something is in the x-ray they have to investigate.

TLDR; I have no problem them investigating an unrecognizable object but I don't understand why the TSA would spend so long rifling through a personal item which they would immediately see posed no security risk. They clearly were suspicious about why I had so many credit cards and in two different names but is that the TSA's job? I guess they could have been wondering if I was travelling under a false identity, but my giving my ID should have resolved the matter immediately. Basically it just felt like they were being nosey.

It probably didn't help that DEN was dead and they all seemed really bored. Anyway my question is: Can TSA search personal items that pose no security risk? Do they also have a duty to investigate potentially suspicious items not related to flight/airport security?

Originally Posted by garykung

Yes.



Except FAM, TSA are not LEOs. So they do not exactly have any investigative authority. However, when it looks suspicious, they can refer to proper authority.

The real question is - would you rather talk to a TSO or an actual LEO, either local or federal, after detention?