Originally Posted by
Danski
I personally do not have much of an expectation of privacy as to my bags when I put them on the screening belt, but that is just me. In my view, if a screener opens a bag becuase they saw something on the x-ray screen that they couldn't rule out as a weapon, and in the process of trying to rule the object out they come upon contraband, it is going to be admissible. If the screener is searching a bag to go on a fishing expidition, that may be another story.
A checkpoint screening is an administrative search that involves implied consent. As such it must be narrowly tailored to only search for items that are prohibited from being airside. That is why the TSA will not be giving lessons to TSO's on what drugs look like. If a TSO does see something illegal unrelated to airplane security in a legitimate search for prohibited items, then the TSO may be able to report it to an LEO. But this whole idea of reporting "suspicious items" is a standard that is just too ripe for a fishing expedition.