Weapons found in carry-on bags at JWA

Throwing stars, .22-caliber ammunition confiscated from luggage over the weekend.

April 25, 2011|By Imran Vittachi, imran.vittachi@latimes.com

Authorities at John Wayne Airport confiscated throwing stars and .22-caliber bullets found in the carry-on bags of passengers embarking on three outbound flights, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration said Monday.

Throwing stars, which are used in martial arts, were found in the bags of two different passengers at airport security checkpoints Friday morning and Saturday afternoon, TSA regional spokesman Nico Melendez said.

TSA officers then found eight rounds of .22-caliber ammunition in another passenger's carry-on luggage Sunday afternoon, Melendez said.

"This is the first time I'm aware of that so many things happened in such a short period of time at John Wayne Airport," he said.

No arrests were made and all three passengers were allowed to board their flights after authorities confiscated the restricted items.

Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, confirmed that the incidents with the throwing stars took place, but he could not immediately confirm the report about the bullets.

Amormino said that sheriff's deputies were going to send related paperwork over to the district attorney's office for review.

TSA officers found throwing stars in the bags of passengers departing on Friday's Alaska Airlines flight No. 501 to Seattle and Saturday's American Airlines flight No. 1498 to Dallas. The ammunition was found in carry-on luggage on Sunday's Southwest Airlines flight No. 1808 to Las Vegas.

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