Transportation Security Administration agents arrested a Spring Valley man at the San Diego Airport for trying to smuggle a loaded weapon and meth onto a plane yesterday.
According to a March 18 complaint filed in federal court, Elan Leroy Gwynn was arrested after TSA agents found a loaded gun inside his carry-on luggage. The Glock-19 replica, referred to as a ghost gun without serial numbers, had a fully loaded 15-round magazine inserted into it. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdpd-seeing-rise-in-ghost-gun-seizures/129380/
The complaint alleges that Gwynn entered the security checkpoint at approximately 8:45am on March 17 accompanied by his mother on their way to board their flight to Dallas.
As Gwynn’s carry-on moved through the security lane’s conveyor belt, Gwynn walked into the body scanner. The body scan revealed an anomaly near his groin.
After leaving the body scanner, TSA agents who were checking the bags noticed the Glock-19 ghost gun inside Gwynn’s carry-on.
Gwynn at first told the agents that the anomaly near his groin was a “tube of chapstick.” Agents later determined the small vial was filled with methamphetamine.
As for the ghost-gun, Gwynn told agents the gun belonged to his friend, whose name he forgot. When asked again, Gwynn’s mother allegedly interjected, stating the gun belonged to Gwynn’s father and that her son “had been stressed and forgot that he put the gin in the bag.”
Local
When asked about the vial of meth, Gwynn told agents initially that it was “salt for his margarita.”
Gwynn was arrested and was later charged with carrying a weapon or explosive on an aircraft.
According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, Gwynn had been in trouble with the laws before, having been arrested on felony drug charges in 2017. Shortly before his arrest, the Sheriff’s Department issued a Crime Stoppers bulletin asking for information that could lead to his arrest.
Every month, the Sheriff's Department works with the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force (FTF) and Crime Stoppers to find and arrest people wanted for committing crimes.
“Be on the lookout for 31-year-old Elan Gwynn. He is wanted on a felony warrant for possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics for sale and vandalism,” read the December 16, 2016 post.
“Gwynn stands 6' tall and weighs about 170 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Gwynn is known to frequent the communities of Spring Valley and Lemon Grove.”
TSA agents at San Diego Airport and at airports throughout the country are finding more and more guns in carry-on bags.
In 2019, as reported by NBC 7 Investigates, TSA agents stationed at security checkpoints in airports throughout the U.S. found 4,178 firearms inside carry-on bags. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/tsa-agents-find-more-guns-than-ever-at-airports-nationwide/2228786/
A surprising 87% of those firearms were loaded, as was the case in Gwynn’s March 17 arrest.
Gwynn arraignment is scheduled for April 23.
