TSA Confiscated Duty free Wine Bottle for Being “Too Dark”
#1
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TSA Confiscated Duty free Wine Bottle for Being “Too Dark”
From the TSA site on Reddit. New one on me. After 20 years, one would think the TSA had thought of all the ways to confiscate passengers' property.
I had a bottle of red wine in a sealed, duty free bag, complete with receipts and paperwork confiscated at EWR today because the bottle was “too dark”. I purchased the bottle from the airport I was coming from and had it in my carry on. Is this normal protocol? Thanks!
#2
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
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From the TSA site on Reddit. New one on me. After 20 years, one would think the TSA had thought of all the ways to confiscate passengers' property.
At the register next to mine at the duty-free store, I overhead a supervisor cautioning another customer not to buy the alcohol bottles that he wanted; apparently, those bottles were made of dark colored glass which does not let the scanner analyze the liquid contents. I am not sure, but I think that the supervisor came over after the cashier refused to place those bottles in a tamper-evident bag.
#3
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So it would seem the moral is to put the goods into your checked bag. If you do not have a checked bag, get a box and pad it well. I have done the latter regardless of where I have originated.
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Are not the duty free stores airside, after TSA screening?
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#6
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My guess is that this is due to some new scanning tech that can "see" through transparent and semi-transparent containers (like glass and plastic that isn't too dark). Not sure if TSA has them in wide use yet, but some customs agencies have them at hand. I guess a tale of things to come.
"Raman spectroscopy"
https://www.smithsdetection.com/products/ace-id/
"Raman spectroscopy"
https://www.smithsdetection.com/products/ace-id/