What Happens to All the Confiscated Items from Airport Security?

When you forget to take the knife out of your pocket or have a large bottle of liquid, airport security will confiscate these items. What happens to them?

Can you get your items back once the TSA agent has taken them from you? If you’re coming back to the same airport, you might have some hope but probably shouldn’t. The actions taken regarding items confiscated by airport security can vary from being tossed away immediately to being sold at auction. Sometimes, these items end up being evidence in criminal cases, but it’s not likely that a passenger will get the items back that have been confiscated from their carry-on baggage when they go through the security checkpoint.

Are items actually confiscated?

Going through the TSA checkpoints means your person and your bags are put through metal detectors. This can be an uncomfortable experience, but most travelers pass through without incident. Some travelers have items that are not allowed in the cabin area of the plane. These prohibited items are identified, and the passenger has a few options regarding them. They can:

• Surrender it to agents at the checkpoint
• Check the bag with the item inside
• Take the item back to the car or give it to a non-traveling companion

Notice, in none of these instances does it say that the agent confiscates the items. Travelers who want to continue to the gate will need to figure out which choice they will make with the items. Most will surrender them, because many items in the bags that shouldn’t be are things like shampoo bottles, water bottles, or the pocket knife that’s been attached to keys for many years.

Are some items actually confiscated?

Some items that must be surrendered, or confiscated by airport security teams are those that travelers should certainly know better than to try and get through security. Regardless of the intentions of the passengers, these crazy items should never pass through airport security and into the cabin of a plane.

The Wildest Confiscated Items (All Real)

These items were actually taken by TSA or reported by airport security teams:

• A chainsaw – With fuel still in it, confiscated at New Orleans International Airport.
• A 15-inch dead eel in a bag – Found in a checked bag at Miami International.
• Ninja throwing stars and nunchucks – Commonly confiscated in places like Los Angeles and Atlanta.
• A grenade-shaped bottle of cologne – Seized for looking too much like the real thing.
• Bear repellent spray – Surprisingly frequent; extremely dangerous if it leaks in a cabin.
• A bottle of “Holy Water” labeled as “flammable” – Confiscated due to hazard labeling, not holiness.
• A full-size axe – Found inside a carry-on bag at Denver International Airport.
• A chastity belt – Flagged during screening; technically not prohibited, just confusing.
• A raw turkey stuffed with contraband drugs – Yes, it happened at LAX.

How many items are confiscated each year?

Travelers surrender many items to TSA every year, especially if the items have little to no value. There are 1.3 million checked bags going through US airports and 3.3 million carry-on bags. This means it would be difficult to understand how many items go through airport security and are confiscated each year. That said, one category is tracked closely.

Firearms

As you would expect, firearms that are brough to TSA security checkpoints are tracked extremely closely. The number of these items that are found in carry-on bags has been on the rise. In 2002, TSA found 6,542 firearms and in 2023, that figure rose to 6,737. It begs the question of why are travelers trying to get their firearms through airport security as carry-on items? This seems like a frightening scenario.

Where do all the items go?

TSA Auctions & Government Surplus

• Non-prohibited, non-hazardous items are often sent to state surplus centers or sold at public auctions.
• Websites like GovDeals.com or PropertyRoom.com handle these bulk sales.
• Items are sorted by type and condition—think bins of Swiss Army knives, GoPro mounts, and novelty mugs.

Recycling or Disposal

• Hazardous or perishable goods (like fuel containers, meat, or questionable liquids) are safely disposed of.
• Unclaimed items from checked bags may go to unclaimed baggage centers like the famous one in Scottsboro, Alabama.

Can You Buy This Stuff?

• Yes, and people do!
• The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama sells everything from designer sunglasses to iPads left behind at airports.
• TSA items often appear in bulk auction lots—buy a pallet of 200 confiscated pocket knives for $80.

Whether it’s a belt buckle shaped like brass knuckles or a taxidermied seagull, airport security sees it all—and chances are, so will the next lucky bidder at a government surplus sale. These items are surrendered or confiscated by airport security and can end up with new owners because travelers forgot to leave them at home.