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Tribune News Service

Who knew a love of spicy snacks would earn you extra scrutiny while going through airport security?
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Los Angeles International Airport pulled Emily Mei, 25, aside on Friday to search her carry-on bag, which contained more than a dozen packets of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
“I thought they were going to reach their hand in and see that there was nothing suspicious,” Mei said.
She was wrong – officers began inspecting each individual bag using test strips.
So Mei, an Instagram influencer with over 400,000 followers, whipped out her phone and tweeted out a nine-second video of a gloved TSA agent methodically removing the Cheetos packages one by one from her Louis Vuitton duffel bag.

Catch me snack smuggling on TV today LMFAO @InsideEdition @Jimmoret pic.twitter.com/i6paVlwGhC
— Emily Ghoul (Emily Mei) (@emilyghoul1) October 10, 2019

“Will never forget the day TSA stopped me cuz they thought i was hiding [expletive] inside my bag cuz all i had was like 20 bags of Hot Cheetos,” she wrote.
Her tweet has gone viral with more than 85,000 likes and more than 15,000 retweets, as of midday Wednesday.
Mei later revealed the reason she was carrying so many packets of the snack: “For everyone who’s asking why i had so many bags of Hot Cheetos, apparently it’s hard to get in Korea so my friends always ask me to bring it for them LOL.”
Chinese tourist stopped at airport with a live lobster in his luggage
She said that when travelling overseas, she always makes space in her luggage for American foods and snacks such as cereal and candy.
The LAX incident was not even the first time the contents of Mei’s carry-on have resulted in her being stopped by airport security. Once while arriving in the beauty mecca of South Korea, she was stopped because she was carrying home bath salts – the skincare product, not the street drug – for a friend.
Mei said she stashed the cheese puffs in her carry-on on Friday because she could not fit them all in her suitcase.
“The thought that someone would take the time to bring bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos to a friend halfway around the world – and seeing the video of it in action – made us smile,” said Brandi Ray, senior director of marketing for Cheetos, in a statement.




















View this post on Instagram



















When he says he wants a snacc HOT CHEETOS GANGGGGG TY #F21xCheetos
A post shared by Emily Mei (@emily.ghoul) on Jun 6, 2019 at 6:20pm PDT



Ray even volunteered to step in to ensure the snacks got to South Korea.
“If, for some reason, Emily Mei doesn’t get her Flamin’ Hot Cheetos to her final destination, Chester Cheetah will personally ensure she receives another shipment,” she said.
It turned out Mei did not need the company’s help – after the search, she was allowed to proceed on her way, Cheetos in tow.
While Mei is an influencer, she said she was not paid to post about Cheetos or promote them. Nor was she paid for her June Instagram post in which she posed on a chaise longue wearing a Cheetos swimsuit while surrounded by the crunchy snack. The outfit had been sent to her as a gift by Forever 21 after they noticed how big a fan she was.
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While TSA does permit food, edible items can be searched if deemed necessary by an agent.
The final call is the agency’s to make, according to their “What Can I Bring?” guidelines. The page lists breaks down which items are allowed in checked luggage and carry-on bags and in what amounts.
Though Mei found the search slightly embarrassing, it was mostly funny. And she does not mind that TSA chose to search her bag.
“Makes me feel safe,” she said.


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Offbeat

Instagram influencer Emily Mei stopped at Los Angeles airport over 20 bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos snacks

Emily Mei poses with a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in a photo posted on Twitter on Thursday. Photo: Emily Mei via Twitter

Keep out: social media photographers told to stay away from Beijing’s new Daxing airport

Beijing’s Daxing International Airport is a hit with travellers, but it also attracts social media snappers who get in the way of everyday business, security staff say. Photo: Simon Song

=== PHOTO CAPTURED FROM CCTV === Police stationed at BeijingÕs newly opened mega airport have warned snap-happy tourists not to visit the airport unless it is for a flight due to safety concerns, reported state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday. Beijing Daxing International Airport, which opened to the public with great fanfare last week, has become the latest viral destination on Chinese social media, spurring a trend of visitors going there solely to take photos inside the huge star-shaped building. Since the airport opened last Wednesday, around 15,000 people on average have visited the airport each day just to take photos, the report said. Photo: CCTV

Chinese airport warns passengers throwing coins at planes ‘will harm prayers for safe trip’

Ground crew inspect a China Southern Airlines plane after an 80-year-old woman threw a handful of coins into the engine in 2017. Photo: Handout

A view of the terminal building (airside) at Sanya Phoenix International Airport — with a China West Air B737-300 parked at the gate. On Hainan Island, in Sanya, Hainan Province, Southeast China. Photo: Handout

The Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, Hainan province has become the first airport in China to put up obvious signs warning passengers not to toss coins at airplanes after numerous such incidents have delayed flights. Image circulating online on Sunday showed the warning was displayed at the electric screen ahead of security check lines, which warned passengers tossing coins not only broke laws but would also harm their blessings. Photo: The paper

Woman kicked off flight after bringing ‘emotional support squirrel’ on plane

‘Rodents, including squirrels, are not allowed on Frontier flights,’ says a Frontier Airlines spokesperson. Photo: Reuters

A Frontier Airlines flight from Florida to Ohio was delayed nearly two hours on Tuesday after a woman tried to fly with her emotional support squirrel. (Frontier Airlines)

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Video of TSA officer removing packets from her Louis Vuitton duffel bag goes viral
Mei says she was bringing snacks to South Korea for friends



Video of TSA officer removing packets from Emily Mei’s Louis Vuitton duffel bag goes viral.


Instagram influencer Emily Mei stopped at Los Angeles airport over 20 bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos snacks

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Video of TSA officer removing packets from her Louis Vuitton duffel bag goes viral Mei says she was bringing snacks to South Korea for friends

Video of TSA officer removing packets from her Louis Vuitton duffel bag goes viral

Mei says she was bringing snacks to South Korea for friends