The passenger was trying to board a flight at Tampa International Airport in Florida when they were stopped by border patrol agents who found fragments of a human skull and several bones

US Airport horror as border patrol find ‘human remains’ in passenger’s luggage(Image: Director of Field Operations)

A man was busted trying to smuggle ‘human remains’ through security at a Florida airport, defending his actions by claiming they were for a strange ritual.

The shocking discovery was made by customs officers at Tampa International Airport in Florida this week when the passenger initially declared only 10 cigars.

The man’s luggage contained fragments of what seemed to be a human skull and several bones, along with “prohibited plants,” according to airport authorities.

Photos taken after the confiscation reveal the bones wrapped in crumpled tinfoil, used to hold them together inside the suitcase.

The passenger said the items were for “rituals.” CBP did not clarify what type of rituals. It’s not clear if the passenger is facing charges.

(Image: Director of Field Operations)

Photos show customs officials wearing gloves to go through the material. Deemed a “serious health risk”, the bones were confiscated and destroyed.

Carlos C Martel, Director of Field Operations at the US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Miami/Tampa Field Office, shared 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.”

(Image: Director of Field Operations)

“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 time human remains have been found unexpectedly at an airport.

In 2020, a woman and her daughter were halted at an airport when customs officers discovered a man’s remains in their luggage.

The duo had placed his bones inside a box in their suitcase, intending to bring him back home to Armenia.

(Image: Director of Field Operations)

The women, aged 74 and 52, were en route from Greece to Yerevan with a layover in Munich when German authorities stumbled upon the peculiar find.

Customs officials, a doctor, and prosecutors were summoned, but it was concluded that no crime had been committed.

Just last year, an airport employee expressed his shock after discovering a dead woman on a luggage conveyor belt.

Virginia Vinton, a 57-year-old mother of two, was found lifeless at O’Hare airport in Chicago by a Delta Airlines baggage handler.

Speaking to US media, he disclosed that he had asked the woman if she wanted him to stop the belt before getting an “eerie feeling” as he loaded bags onto the carousel.

He called out to her, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ only to realize the 57-year-old wasn’t breathing.