HOUSTON – A Houston man was caught with a gun in his carry on luggage while in Argentina.
Steven Lee Burditt said he flew from Houston to Buenos Aires with a gun in his carry on. He was stopped when customs agents saw the firearm, ammunition and pepper spray as he tried returning to the United States on Wednesday.
"They ran the bag through the scanner and he showed me the scanner and he pointed out what he was calling a pistol," said Burditt.
"Now, from the photograph I looked at, I was having a difficult time seeing that there was a weapon in there and he reached in and sure enough, he pulled out and sure enough, yes, it was mine," he added.
Burditt said he unknowingly carried the gun through security at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and onto his flight. He said he put the gun into his bag when he took the it out of his car.
"Huge mistake for me. Completely unintentional, no intention at all, but it happened. Yes it did," he said. "Again, how it was to go through Houston, I don't know, I'm sure they will go back and investigate and try to correct that.
KPRC Local 2 contacted the Transportation Security Administration to ask how Burditt could walk through the security checkpoint at Bush Intercontinental Airport with a gun and ammunition and not be stopped. TSA said it was reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Burditt was released Thursday, but must remain in Argentina while a judge there investigates. So far, no charges have been filed.
The TSA released the following statement.
"TSA is reviewing the circumstances surrounding this matter.
"TSA continues to employ multiple layers of security to protect the traveling public. On board aircraft, these layers include reinforced cockpit doors, federal air marshals, federal flight deck officers and a vigilant traveling public. TSA continues to take the discovery of prohibited items seriously yet in today's post 9/11 security environment, intelligence tells us our officers' greatest focus needs to be the biggest threat to aviation today - explosives and explosives components.
"TSA screens more than 1.7 million passengers a day and has detected more than 1,100 guns at checkpoints to date this year alone."