US Customs and Border Protection officers at Tampa International Airport discovered what appeared to be human remains in a passenger's luggage earlier this week. The traveller had initially declared only ten cigars but was found to be carrying fragments of a human skull and several bones wrapped in tinfoil, alongside prohibited plants.
The items were seized and destroyed after being deemed a serious health risk. Carlos C Martel, Director of Field Operations at CBP's Miami/Tampa Field Office, stated 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 passenger claimed the remains were intended for use in rituals. Martel added: 'At CBP, we never know what baggage may hold, but smugglers should know we’ll always have a bone to pick.'
This incident follows previous cases of human remains being discovered at airports. In 2020, a woman and her daughter were stopped in Munich while attempting to transport a man's bones in their luggage from Greece to Armenia. No crime was determined in that case. In another incident last year, a baggage handler at Chicago's O'Hare airport found a woman dead on a luggage conveyor belt.
