The TSA’s Advanced Imaging Technology detected an anomaly shaped like a turtle in the area of the chest of a passenger in the Miami International Airport. The woman from Florida was stopped for a thorough inspection in which two live turtles were found in her bra.
One reptile was wrapped in medical tape or gauze. The other sat in plastic wrap. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the woman “divested two turtles from her breast area” during the private check. Photos later released by the agency showed the animals still partially wrapped before officers placed them in a bin.
The underlying incident happened in April 2025. TSA waited until late July 2025 to share the details and images on social media, turning the discovery into a public reminder. If you’re seeing the story recirculate on platforms in September 2026, it is the same earlier case not a new event.
One of the turtles did not survive. The surviving animal was transferred to the Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife (also referenced as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Multiple agencies responded, including the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The woman’s identity was never released, and no criminal charges have been publicly confirmed in available reporting. Turtle species also remained unidentified.
In its July 24, 2025, social media posts, the agency left little room for confusion:
“OK friends, please and we cannot emphasize this enough stop hiding animals in weird places on your body and then trying to sneak them through airport security. No, really.
A Florida woman traveling out of Miami International Airport (MIA) recently attempted to take a pair of turtles through our checkpoint, and the turtles were stuffed inside… yes, you guessed it… her brassiere.
We want you to be able to travel with your pets, and you turtle-ly can, but please travel with them safely… small pets are allowed through our checkpoint but must be removed from any carriers and carried through the checkpoint (notice we said ‘carried’ and not ‘hidden underneath your clothing’).
Sadly, for this MIA traveler, one of the turtles didn’t survive.”
Consistent messages were seen on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. It conveyed an important point about policy: that small pets, which include turtles in theory, can be taken through TSA checkpoints in case they are taken out of carriers and are openly carried. An empty carrier is sent through the X-ray machine.
This incident in Miami was not completely in isolation. In 2025 earlier, a man who was stopped at Newark Liberty International Airport owing to an alert on a body scanner about something in his pants had produced a live turtle wrapped in a towel. This one survived.
Travelers can bring small pets through security the right way. Concealing them under clothing is neither necessary nor safe for the animals or the screening process.
