TSA Officers Find Smoke Grenade in Carry-On Bag at New York Airport
The incident illustrates ongoing gaps between federal prohibited-items rules and traveler compliance at smaller regional airports.
Transportation Security Administration officers at Watertown International Airport in New York discovered a spent M18 smoke grenade concealed inside a passenger's carry-on bag during routine X-ray screening, according to a report by Fox News published on or around October 2, 2026.
The M18 smoke grenade is a military-pattern canister used to produce colored smoke for signaling purposes. Under TSA regulations codified at 49 CFR Part 1540 and detailed in the agency's prohibited items list, all grenades, including spent or inert variants, are barred from both carry-on and checked baggage. Travelers who wish to transport military-style pyrotechnic devices are required to contact their airline for specific hazardous materials guidance, and even then most commercial carriers prohibit such items outright.
The passenger offered an explanation for the item's presence in the bag, though the Fox News report did not detail the full substance of that explanation. It is unknown at this time whether the traveler was detained, arrested, or released pending further review. A TSA incident report or local law enforcement record from Jefferson County, New York, where Watertown is located, would identify any charges filed.
Watertown International Airport, designated by the International Air Transport Association code ART, is a federally obligated airport that receives Airport Improvement Program grants administered by the Federal Aviation Administration. As a federally obligated facility, it is subject to full TSA screening protocols identical to those at larger hub airports, per the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-71).
The TSA reported confiscating approximately 6,737 firearms at airport checkpoints nationwide in calendar year 2023, the most recent full-year data published in the agency's annual checkpoint findings. The agency does not publish a separate annual count specific to grenades or grenade-type devices, so a direct national comparison figure for this category of item is not available in public TSA records.
Smoke grenades occupy a distinct legal category from live explosive grenades. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. Section 842 and related ATF regulations classifies certain pyrotechnic devices as destructive devices depending on their internal charge and configuration. Whether a spent M18 canister with no remaining pyrotechnic material meets the federal definition of a destructive device is a fact-specific determination. That determination, if made in this case, would appear in any charging document filed by federal prosecutors in the Northern District of New York.
The TSA has the authority to assess civil penalties of up to $15,000 per violation for carrying prohibited items through a checkpoint, under 49 CFR Part 1503. The agency may also refer cases to law enforcement for criminal prosecution under 49 U.S.C. Section 46505, which covers carrying weapons or explosives aboard aircraft and carries penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment if the item is deemed dangerous.
Congress funds TSA operations through annual appropriations. The fiscal year 2026 Homeland Security appropriations bill, as passed, allocated approximately $10.3 billion to TSA operations, a figure reflected in the Department of Homeland Security's budget justification documents submitted to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees earlier this year. Checkpoint staffing levels at smaller airports like Watertown are set according to TSA staffing models that are not fully public, though the agency has testified before the House Homeland Security Committee about resource allocation methodology.
It is not yet known whether federal charges have been filed against the passenger, whether the item was confirmed as inert, or whether TSA issued a civil penalty notice. A Freedom of Information Act request to TSA for the incident report, and a review of federal court filings in the Northern District of New York, would provide those answers.