A man from New Jersey has been accused with smuggling three firearms, including an AR-15, onto a commercial flight bound for Florida, according to federal investigators.<\/p>\n

According to a criminal complaint made public on Monday, Seretse Clouden was arrested on allegations of being a felon in possession of a handgun and having a false identification card.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint written by FBI task force officer Christopher Granato, agents with the Transportation Security Administration discovered gun magazines, ammunition, and a ballistic vest carrier inside a bag belonging to Clouden during a routine screening at Newark Liberty International Airport on December 30.<\/p>\n

The agents then proceeded to Clouden’s gate, where he was scheduled to depart for Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n

Upon there, they conducted an interview with Clouden and removed his other luggage off the aircraft. Agents then discovered the following:<\/p>\n

\n
• A 5.56-caliber\u00a0AR-15 rifle<\/li>\n
• A .308-caliber rifle<\/li>\n
• A .40-caliber Glock 22<\/li>\n
• A spring-loaded knife<\/li>\n
• A Taser<\/li>\n
• A fraudulent U.S. Marshal badge with Clouden’s name and photo<\/li>\n
• An expandable baton<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  It is unknown whether Clouden’s checked luggage contained the firearms or whether the weapons were in his carry-ons.<\/p>\n

  There is no phone number provided for Clouden, and it is unknown if he has an attorney.<\/p>\n

  Clouden was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm in 2016.<\/p>\n

  Record Number of Guns<\/h2>\n

  <\/p>\n

  Last year, the TSA seized a record amount of firearms at U.S. airports, discovering over 6,500 handguns in luggage.<\/p>\n

  Almost every year before to last year’s record, the numbers increased steadily.<\/p>\n

  “What we see at our checkpoints reflects what we see in society,” TSA chief David Pekoske told The Associated Press. “In society, more people are carrying firearms now.”<\/p>\n

  According to the TSA, the five U.S. airports where the most firearms were discovered last year are:<\/p>\n

  \n
  • Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport:\u00a0448 discoveries<\/li>\n
  • Dallas Fort Worth International Airport:\u00a0385 discoveries<\/li>\n
  • Houston\u2019s George Bush Intercontinental Airport:\u00a0298 discoveries<\/li>\n
  • Nashville International Airport:\u00a0213 discoveries<\/li>\n
  • Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport:\u00a0196 discoveries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    What Are the Rules for Firearms on Planes?<\/h2>\n

    According to the TSA, firearms are permitted on commercial aircraft if they are unloaded, packed in a secured, hard-sided case, and placed in checked baggage.<\/p>\n

    Passengers are expected to disclose any firearms and ammunition at the airline ticket counter during check-in.<\/p>\n

    Infringers may face citations or criminal charges, and the TSA may impose civil penalties.<\/p>\n

    In response to the unprecedented number of firearms discovered at airports, the TSA boosted civil penalties last year, increasing the maximum fine to almost $15,000 from roughly $14,000.<\/p>\n

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     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A man from New Jersey has been accused with smuggling three firearms, including an AR-15, onto a commercial flight bound for Florida, according to federal investigators. According to a criminal complaint made public on Monday, Seretse Clouden was arrested on allegations of being a felon in possession of a handgun and having a false identification […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":46001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-46000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newjerseylocalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}