Criminal Defense Lawyers

TSA Caught Drugs at Airport – Facing Federal and State Charges

Last Updated on: 14th December 2025, 10:37 pm

The TSA agent who finds drugs in your bag cannot arrest you. Read that sentence again. The person standing between you and your flight, holding your contraband, staring at you with that look – they have no power to put handcuffs on you. But here’s what nobody tells you: that doesn’t matter. Because the moment they find something, they pick up a phone. And the person on the other end of that call absolutely can arrest you. The question isn’t whether you’ll face charges. The question is which system will prosecute you – and that decision gets made in the next sixty seconds based on factors you don’t control and probably don’t understand.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you real information about airport drug arrests – not the sanitized version you find on other websites that pretend this is simple. It’s not simple. The difference between federal and state charges at an airport can mean the difference between probation and a decade in federal prison. Todd Spodek founded this firm on one principle: clients deserve to know exactly what they’re facing before they make decisions that cannot be undone. What you do in the next few minutes after TSA finds something in your bag will shape your entire future.

Here’s the fundamental reality most people never grasp until it’s too late: TSA officers are not law enforcement. Their job is to find bombs and weapons. They’re not looking for your drugs. They don’t care about your drugs. Their entire training, their entire focus, their entire reason for existing is to prevent terrorism. But when they’re X-raying your bag for explosives and they spot a suspicious substance, they don’t just ignore it. They can’t ignore it. So they find drugs constantly – while looking for something else entirely.

TSA Can’t Arrest You – But They Make Sure Someone Else Does

Heres the part that confuses everyone. You see the TSA uniform, you assume there law enforcement. Your standing in what feels like a police checkpoint. But TSA agents have no arrest powers whatsoever. There not cops. There security screeners. The distinction matters enormously becuase it effects what happens next.

When a TSA officer finds drugs in your bag, they detain you – which they can do – and then they make a phone call. Who they call depends entirely on were you are in the airport and what agency has jurisdiction at that specific location. At JFK, they might call Port Authority Police. At LAX, they might call LAPD officers stationed at the airport. At smaller airports, they might call the local sheriff. Or they might call the DEA directly. You dont get to choose. You dont get input. You just wait while someone decides your fate.

This handoff process creates a wierd window were people think there okay. The TSA agent isnt arresting you. There just standing there. Maybe your thinking you can talk your way out of this. Maybe your thinking this isnt that serious. Thats the trap. Everything your saying during this window is being noted. Everything your doing is being observed. By the time the actual law enforcement officer arrives, theyve already been briefed on what was found and how you reacted.

Think about that for a second. TSA dosent look for drugs, but they find them constantly. And when they find them, they hand you off to people who absolutly do care about drugs. The agency thats not trying to catch you catches you anyway, then delivers you to the agency thats entire purpose is prosecuting exactly what you did.

The Invisible Line That Changes Everything

Heres something that will make your head spin. Walk fifty feet in one direction inside an airport, and your in federal territory. Walk fifty feet in another direction, and your in state territory. The TSA screening area is federal jurisdiction. The bathroom down the hall might be state jurisdiction. The gate area could go either way depending on the airport. And this invisible line – this boundary you cant see and probly didnt know existed – determines wheather you face federal charges or state charges.

Why does this matter so much? Becuase federal court and state court are completly different systems with completly different outcomes.

At Spodek Law Group, weve seen cases go both directions. State charges for marijuana possession in New York might result in a violation and a fine. The same amount, found in the TSA screening area, triggers federal jurisdiction were marijuana is still a Schedule I controlled substance regardless of what state law says. Flying between Colorado and California – two states were recreational marijuana is completly legal – still means your transporting a federally illegal substance through federal airspace. The legality in both states is irrelevant. Federal law controls in federal jurisdiction.

The question isnt “will I face charges.” The question is which system prosecutes you. And heres the uncomfortable truth: if you had a choice, youd choose state court almost every time. Federal conviction rates exceed 90%. Federal prosecutors have essentially unlimited resources. Federal sentencing guidelines remove most judicial discretion. Federal prison has no parole. If your case goes federal, your fighting a system designed to convict you.

The DEA Ambush After You’ve Already Cleared Security

OK so you made it through TSA. Your bags cleared. Your at your gate, waiting to board. Your safe, right?

Wrong.

Heres were it gets even stranger. The DEA conducts what they call “cold consent encounters” at boarding gates. Plainclothes agents approach passengers who have already cleared all security screenings. These passengers did nothing wrong at the checkpoint. There not suspected of anything based on the TSA screening. But the DEA targets them anyway.

How do they pick who to approach? Your ticket purchase pattern. One-way ticket. Last-minute booking. Cash payment. Flying from certain cities – Atlanta to Los Angeles is considered a “known drug trafficking route.” Merely flying between those two cities puts you on a list. You bought a plane ticket and that ticket purchase pattern matched a profile. Thats it. Thats the suspicion.

The agents will approach you at the gate and ask to search your bags. They call it “consensual.” But heres what consent actualy looks like in these encounters: if you refuse, they tell you your going to miss your flight. If you refuse, they bring a drug dog. If you refuse, they apply for a warrant while you wait. Your right to refuse is technically real but practicaly meaningless. You can say no, but saying no triggers consequences designed to make you say yes.

Ive seen video footage of these encounters. Passengers who said no were told explicitly there going to miss there flight. Some were detained for hours. The “choice” to consent isnt much of a choice when the alternative is missing your flight, being detained, and having a drug dog circle your luggage while you watch.

Federal vs State – Why Federal Is Almost Always Worse

Lets talk numbers. Becuase the numbers tell you everything you need to know about why federal charges should terrify you.

Federal mandatory minimum for trafficking 500 grams or more of cocaine: 5 years. No parole. The judge cannot give you less. Even if the judge thinks your a good person who made a mistake, even if the judge thinks 5 years is excessive, even if every factor points toward leniency – the judge’s hands are tied. Mandatory means mandatory.

Federal mandatory minimum for 5 kilograms or more: 10 years. Still no parole. Still no judicial discretion.

If someone dies from using drugs you distributed: 20 years mandatory minimum. First offense. No prior record. Dosent matter. Twenty years.

Second felony drug offense? Those minimums double. Third offense? Mandatory life without parole.

And the fines. First offense trafficking can carry fines up to $5 million. Not a typo. Five million dollars.

Compare this to state court. State judges generaly have more discretion. State sentences are often shorter. State systems often have parole. State prosecutors often have smaller caseloads and less resources. State plea deals are often more favorable.

Federal prosecutors have a 90%+ conviction rate. Thats not becuase there better lawyers – though many of them are excellent. Its becuase they have unlimited resources and they only bring cases they know they can win. By the time your federaly charged, theyve already decided your guilty. The trial is almost a formality.

If you have any opportunity to keep your case in state court, take it. Todd Spodek tells every client the same thing: federal court is a different universe. The rules are different. The stakes are different. The outcomes are different. Do not assume your state court experience – or your friends experience, or what you saw on TV – tells you anything about federal prosecution.

They Arrest Your Money, Not You

Heres something even lawyers dont always explain properly. The government can take your money without ever charging you with a crime.

At airports, DEA agents look for cash as much as they look for drugs. Maybe more. If they find significant cash in your bag, they can seize it under civil asset forfeiture. And heres the thing that makes people’s heads explode: civil forfeiture is a case against your money, not against you. The legal case is literally styled “United States v. $47,000 in U.S. Currency.” Your money is the defendant.

Why does this matter? Becuase in a criminal case, the government has to prove your guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil forfeiture, the burden is much lower. And practicaly, the burden shifts to you. You have to prove your money is innocent. You have to prove the cash came from legitimate sources. You have to hire a lawyer and fight in federal court to get your own money back.

Clients come to Spodek Law Group after these seizures completly confused. They wernt charged with anything. There not facing prison. But there money is gone. The agents took it at the airport and walked away. Now there in a legal battle that can take years and cost more in legal fees then the seized amount.

This isnt hypothetical. InvestigateTV documented dozens of cases were passengers had cash seized at airport gates with no criminal charges ever filed. A 2017 Department of Justice Inspector General report noted that the DEA “risked creating the appearance that they are more interested in seizing and forfeiting cash than advancing a potential criminal investigation.”

Think about that. The governments own inspector general said the DEA seems more interested in taking your money then investigating actual crimes.

What Celebrity Cases Teach You About Your Own Chances

Celebrities get caught at airports with drugs all the time. And there cases teach you exactly one thing: you will not get celebrity treatment.

Paul McCartney got caught at Tokyo’s Narita Airport in 1980 with marijuana. He faced seven years in Japanese prison for drug smuggling. He served nine days. Nine days. Then he was released, deported, and never charged. Why? Becuase he was Paul McCartney. His celebrity status didnt prevent the arrest, but it absolutly influenced the outcome.

You are not Paul McCartney. You will not serve nine days when your facing seven years.

Bill Murray got arrested at O’Hare Airport in 1970 with nine pounds of marijuana. He was a college student at the time, pre-med at Regis College. He got expelled. His career almost ended before it started. He eventualy recovered – becuase hes Bill Murray and talent plus luck plus connections can overcome alot.

You probly dont have Bill Murray’s talent, luck, or connections.

Brittney Griner got detained at a Moscow airport in 2022 for less than one gram of cannabis oil. Less then a gram. She spent nearly a year in Russian prison before a prisoner exchange brought her home. Yes, thats Russia and not the United States. But it shows you what can happen when your caught with drugs at an airport in a jurisdiction that dosent care about your feelings.

The lesson from celebrity cases isnt that you might get lucky. The lesson is that even famous people with unlimited legal resources face serious consequences – and you have neither the fame nor the resources.

The Prescription Pill Trap Nobody Warns You About

Heres a trap that catches people who dont think of themselves as drug offenders at all.

You have a prescription for Xanax. Or Adderall. Or Oxycodone. You throw some pills in your bag for the trip. You dont bring the prescription bottle – just the pills loose in a ziplock or mixed with your vitamins. Why would you need the bottle? There your pills. You have a prescription.

Heres why you need the bottle: without documentation, those pills look exactly like illegal possession.

Xanax is a Schedule IV controlled substance. Adderall is Schedule II. Oxycodone is Schedule II. Possession without a valid prescription is a crime. And when TSA finds loose pills in your bag, they dont know you have a prescription. They see controlled substances. They make the call.

Now your explaining to law enforcement that these are your pills. Your prescription is at home. Your doctor can verify. This takes time. This takes investigation. Meanwhile, your detained at the airport while they figure out wheather to believe you.

Ive seen cases were people with completly legitimate prescriptions faced possession charges becuase they couldnt prove legitimacy on the spot. Charges got dismissed eventualy – after hiring lawyers, after court appearances, after thousands of dollars in legal fees, after months of stress. The dismissal dosent erase the arrest record. The dismissal dosent give you back the money you spent defending yourself.

At Spodek Law Group, we tell every client the same thing: bring your prescription bottles when you fly. Its not convenient. The bottles are bulky. But the alternative is explaining to federal agents why your carrying loose Schedule II pills with no documentation.

What To Do When TSA Finds Something

You’ve read this far. You understand the stakes. Now heres what actualy matters: what you do in the moment.

First, stop talking. Everything you say is being used to build a case against you. The TSA agent asking you questions is gathering evidence. The law enforcement officer who arrives is gathering evidence. Your nervous explanations, your attempts to minimize, your instinct to cooperate – all of it becomes ammunition.

Second, dont consent to searches beyond whats already happening. TSA can search your bags at the checkpoint – thats the condition of flying. But additional searches by other agencies require either consent or probable cause. Dont give consent. Make them establish probable cause.

Third, ask for a lawyer before answering questions. You have this right. Use it. I know it feels uncooperative. I know it feels like it makes you look guilty. But talking without a lawyer present is how people destroy there own cases.

Fourth, call us. Spodek Law Group handles airport drug cases – both federal and state. We know how these cases work. We know the agencies involved. We know the prosecutors. We know the differences between jurisdictions and what outcomes are actualy possible.

Call us at 212-300-5196. The consultation is free. The mistake of waiting isnt.

The Reality Nobody Wants to Hear

Airport drug arrests move fast. You can be detained, interviewed, and federaly charged within hours. The system is designed to process you quickly. The system is not designed to protect your rights.

Most people who get caught with drugs at airports had no idea how serious the situation was until it was to late. They thought TSA couldnt arrest them – which is true but irrelevant. They thought small amounts wernt a big deal – which is wrong in federal court. They thought flying between legal states meant something – which it dosent in federal airspace. They thought cooperating would help – which it almost never does.

Todd Spodek has handled hundreds of federal cases. Hes seen what happens when people dont understand the system there in. This isnt about scaring you. This is about making sure you know exactly what your facing so you can make informed decisions.

The airport is not a Constitution-free zone. You have rights. But those rights dont protect themselves. You have to assert them. You have to know when to stay silent. You have to know when to ask for a lawyer. You have to understand that the person asking you questions is not your friend, no matter how friendly they seem.

Spodek Law Group exists for moments like this. When your detained at an airport and everything is moving fast and you dont know what to do. Thats when you call us. Thats when experience matters. Thats when having someone in your corner who understands federal jurisdiction, understands mandatory minimums, understands civil forfeiture, understands the difference between TSA and DEA – thats when all of that knowledge becomes the only thing standing between you and the worst outcome of your life.

Dont wait. Call now.