Staggering drug haul found at major airport after bizarre attempt to hide evidence

Police in Orlando (not pictured) intercepted more than 200 pounds of marijuana, seen at right, in two separate airport busts involving flights from Los Angeles.(iStock;

In a second bust on July 1, police found 144.4 pounds of marijuana insuitcases with locksthat had been completely glued shut.

TSA OFFICER SEES ALARMING SHAPES ON X-RAY BEFORE STOLEN CIVIL WAR MYSTERY UNRAVELS

�can happen in multiple ways.”

Investigators said the suspects used superglue and ripped-off luggage tags to try to evade police.

Those scenarios could include airport orairline employeesassisting smugglers or traffickers using drug mules, he said — though he cautioned that it remains unclear how the drugs made it onto the flights in these cases.

Read More → Minnesota rapper defends ‘solidarity’with France radical activists, push for protests to come to US

Jeffries also said law enforcement may have been tipped off about certain individuals or bags by a confidential informant.

Police records detailed two recent airport busts in which officers recovered a combined 202 pounds of marijuana in Orlando.

“It’s unknown at this time without talking tolaw enforcementand getting the specifics,” he said.

Jeffries, who previously served as TSA’s federal security director at LAX and deputy federal security director at MCO, added that drug trafficking “can happen on any domestic route — and it does.”

He said Orlando’s status as amajor tourist destination,in particular, could make the city attractive to traffickers.

Read More → Common cholesterol drug linked to lower dementia risk when started early

“The illegal perpetrators in this [situation] may think and believe that, well, the security must be lax there, which is not the case,” Jeffries said.

Travelers are shown making their way through Orlando International Airport during the busy Labor Day holiday weekend in Orlando.(Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

He also noted that TSA officers do not specifically search for illegal drugs, and that suspected narcotics discovered during screening are referred to law enforcement.

Read More → Epstein-linked billionaire pours $500K into super PAC backing Kentucky Democrat: ‘Dirty Epstein-class money’

“The TSA’s administrative search authority is very, very narrow and very specific,” Jeffries said.

Read More → Cause of death released for 3 who perished at Burning Man festival in Nevada

“TSA does not look for illegal narcotics,” he added.“They simply say, ‘We’ve got an unknown substance, and we need law enforcement’s attention so that law enforcement can validate what it is or is not.'”

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

While the Orlando marijuana was intercepted by local law enforcement, TSA officers have made otherunusual discoveriesduring airport screenings in recent weeks.

Travelers make their way through a TSA screening line at Orlando International Airport, pictured above.(Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Earlier in September, TSA officers at Dallas Love Field Airport in Texasdiscovered a pocketknifeconcealed inside a tube of toothpaste during routine carry-on screening.

onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.

In Tampa, TSA officers recently discovered a 4-inch,double-edged knifeconcealed inside a baseball bat-shaped flashlight in a passenger’s carry-on bag.