AhoyCargo

Photo of ecstasy spread out on the hood of a car

Augusto Angeles, California - Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Augusto Angeles was working at the security checkpoint at Sacramento International Airport on June 14th when he was conducting a pat-down search of a male passenger at the Terminal B1 checkpoint. During the search, the observant officer detected an item hidden on the passenger's inner thigh, near the groin area under his clothes. Angeles immediately informed his supervisor at which point the passenger attempted to leave the security checkpoint. The passenger was stopped by additional security officers and Sacramento County Sheriff's Department officers responded to the scene.

The passenger initially indicated that he had nothing on his thigh, and then told officials that he had a groin injury. During a subsequent private screening, with Sheriffs' deputies on scene, the TSA team at Sacramento found six zip-top baggies of greenish-blue pills, some artfully concealed in the passenger's pants. The pills have been identified as the street drug ecstasy.

"While it's great that TSO Angeles and the Sacramento team kept these dangerous drugs off the street, it really highlights our ability to find artfully concealed items hidden on passengers," said Ron Pelayo, Sacramento's TSA federal security director. "Areas of the body that drug dealers and money launders use to hide items are the same areas we expect terrorists to use to hide things. This incident is a great example of our officers' ability to find these items."

The passenger was destined for Oklahoma but was arrested on scene.

While officer Angeles exhibited our ability to detect hidden items expertly, TSA is also deploying whole body imagers to continue to enhance our ability to find hidden items while reducing the need for pat-down searches.

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