Man Tries to Smuggle Lighter Through Airport Security By Hiding It in His Mouth

A passenger at a Chinese airport was caught trying to smuggle a lighter in his mouth as he passed through security.

The man was passing through security at Shenyang Taoxian in China’s Liaoning Province in the northeast. It was his first flight and he thought that his two-hour journey would be too long to go without a cigarette, so he allegedly planned to smoke on board.

"His mouth was bulging,” a security official at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport said, according to the Global Times. “When our security staff asked him what was in his mouth, he spoke unclearly saying his mouth had teeth.”

Police were called in to examine the man and found a lighter stuffed into his mouth.

He was fined about $140 (1,000 yuan) for his attempted smuggling.

In the U.S., it is legal to pass through airport security with a disposable or Zippo lighter in your carry-on luggage. However, they will be confiscated in China if you pack them in a carry-on or checked bag.

This is far from the only unusual tactic at airport security recently. Last month, a 32-year-old man tried to sneak himself through security in New Delhi by disguising himself as an 81-year-old. Although the scheme worked a few times, he was caught when airport security noticed his remarkably fresh skin texture.