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Original poster

Most ridiculous thing to be confiscated at an airport...

92 replies

twentypence · 26/11/2007 00:32

A rubber kids snake from Australia zoo - some old lady might get scared apparently.

Cue one devastated kid the whole way home. But you can't complain to customs officials anymore because you get arrested.

And the gift shop in the airport sells guess what?

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 01/12/2007 20:24

a streudel at the airport in Munich.

expatinscotland · 01/12/2007 20:26

oh, and btw, they definitely take items they want for themselves.

don't be fooled.

it does happen. more often than you'd think.

expatinscotland · 01/12/2007 20:29

i've also managed to board a plane only to realise i had a penknife on me.

my dad's made it through with a Zippo lighter, one of those Gerber 20-tools-in-1 thingies, a box of matches and a hammer.

milliec · 01/12/2007 20:31

Message withdrawn

LyraSilvertongue · 01/12/2007 20:33

A packet of cigarettes. What did they think I was going to do with them? I didn't even have a lighter.

PaleoDad · 01/12/2007 20:34

perhaps i should have showed them my DD's backside to prove we needed the sudocrem....

jennifersofia · 01/12/2007 20:34

3/4 of a bar of lovely dark continental chocolate, because it had been opened apparently. I am sure they just fancied some chocolate! I was rather miffed. It also was quite funny/sad to see my 3 &4 yr old girls searched and have to take their shoes off to be inspected. Scissors in our pencil case went unnoticed, however, on same flight.

bluefox · 01/12/2007 20:50

dd had a necklace with a tiny little pair of handcuffs (about 1cm) on it taken from her.she had just bought it from claires accessories at the airport minutes before and was distraught.

sb6699 · 01/12/2007 23:33

My Gran tried to to bring us some square sausage when she was visiting from Glasgow.

She told the "young laddie it was okay he should take it home for his tea"!!

lottiejenkins · 02/12/2007 11:35

PestoMonster.......this is a Parang!!
images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.blacksmithrick.com/images/bladesmith/007.jpg&imgrefurl= www.blacksmithrick.com/bladesmithing.html&h=337&w=589&sz=22&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=96U9O-G7 vR6XOM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=135&prev=

PestohohohoMonster · 02/12/2007 12:45

Ah! I see. Thank you for that, it had been bothering me as I'd never heard that word before.

Original poster
twentypence · 02/12/2007 19:29

bluefox - did the customs official think that your dd was going to try to make a citizens arrest at the Playmobil airport or something?

Here's a thought - why don't the security people go around the airport shops and tell the shop managers what to remove - would save everyone a lot of hassle.

OP posts:
mistressmiggins · 02/12/2007 20:00

the funniest thing happened to me in the summer - I am a closet smoker and had a cigarette lighter in my suitcase. I turned up to come home to see a notice saying couldtn take it in the suitcase.

I frantically had to retrieve the lighter from my suitcase without my parents or brother seeing & ended up giving it to the rep to dispose of

Im in my late 30s and felt like a naughty teenager

TheAntiCod · 02/12/2007 20:05

not ridiculous but sentimental. i was going on a hiking trip around mt blanc. flew out of bahrain, some w"£$er asked why my walking stick was allowed on board, but it was, then flying back from geneva, it had to be put in the hold. i taped it to my bag, but of course was missing at the other end. it was the only thing my dad had ever bought me.

edam · 02/12/2007 20:09

aw, Cod, that's sad.

Monkeytrousers · 02/12/2007 20:10

my mooncup

TotalChaos · 02/12/2007 20:10

a squishy transparent fish and penguin in water toy from John Lewis. Well it did have some liquid in it....

nzshar · 02/12/2007 20:13

Flying out of New zealand there was a person making things with balloons so dss(9) asked if he could have a sword. All was fine till we went to go back on the plane at Singapore where they decided that it was not allowed(something about it popping because of air pressure had already been 5000 miles with it)Ofcourse a very tired distraught dss had to be consoled for the next 2 hours!!

sammac · 02/12/2007 21:39

After flying into gatwick I bough some mac makeup- mascara & lip gloss, whilst waiting for our onward flight to Glasgow. Then fire alarm went off and we dutifully did as told, exited through fire exits, and were then left for nearly an hour in some back corridor with no staff, no announcement and no idea what was going on. The crowd of us then decided to 'break out' and discovered that we were on the land side and had to clear security again. After getting shouted at by variety of people, they then let us through- one woman had nothing- has had been in the loo and her dh had her bag with passport etc......This despite photos being taken as part of new improved security measures to prove we had already been through nearly 2 hours previously!
Anyway one snotty jobsworth took my new purchases, still in the box, off me. I told her that I'd just bought them before the alarm went off but she was having none of it. I asked her what happens to all the stuff- "it's all destroyed madam"
Couldn't help myself- " I bet it is" Thought I was going to get taken away. Ha ha she never found my juicy tubes which I really had to stop myself from waving back at her.

mashedpotsandbutter · 03/12/2007 01:14

A bottle of expensive port at Sydney airport. We had bought it duty free at KL airport, where they're so strict on duty free that they escort you from the duty free shop to the gate with your purchases. The shop assistant carries it for you and won't let you touch it til you're at the gate. It's sealed in a plastic bag that has 'tamper proof bag' printed all over it in big bloody letters.
But the buggers at Sydney still took it off us for being over 100ml. Despite the fact the same man let me take a big bottle of water through because I told him was for DS. I tried saying the port was also for DS after that, but he didn't see the funny side. I told them I hoped they enjoyed it at their Christmas party.

WendyWeber · 03/12/2007 01:23

Any time they want to take something like food or make-up, and say it will be destroyed, I suggest swiftly dropping it on the floor and jumping up and down on it a few times before handing it over - just to make sure it's thoroughly destroyed

jabberwocky · 03/12/2007 02:20

This was pre 9/11 but I did have my 2 pound physical therapy weight conviscated. Guess they thought I would take it in my ripped up arm and bash someone over the head

SofiaAmes · 03/12/2007 05:48

They tried to confiscate my miniature measuring tape in Ethiopia some years ago because they thought it was a garotte and not a measuring tape...I did manage explain what it was and was allowed to keep it. It was hard to keep a straight face as this was going on, since the airport consisted of a field filled with goats and when the plane spotter (guy with good eyesight) spotted a plane, he'd blow a whistle and a few locals would shoo the goats off the field and the plane would land. Security was done in a tin hut.
And then there was the security in Eritrea where they put our checked luggage through the xray machine, but let us just walk on with our hand luggage unchecked by machine or person.
My cousin once had her kids toy peter pan sword confiscated, but they them all walk on with a full box of children's colored modeling clay (looks just like plasticene explosive).

LyraSilvertongue · 03/12/2007 09:16

Someone at work had their ipod confiscated at an italian airport after they tightened up the restrictions. How they justified that one I don't know.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 03/12/2007 13:29

I had a whole, brand new large pot of sudocream confiscated. I even offered to taste it (DS has eaten it plenty of times so I figured it couldnt be that bad . I had to taste some of the bottle of ebm as well to prove it was "safe". They allowed the milk but took a lipstick and the sudocream. DS had a really bad rash at that point too.

They completely missed the nail clippers, and nail scissors and metal nail file I had in my handbag though

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