Security officers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport found 17 bullets concealed inside a disposable baby nappy, the Transportation Security Administration said.

Officers pulled the otherwise clean nappy from a passenger’s carry-on bag after it triggered an alarm in an X-ray machine at an airport security checkpoint, the TSA said.

According to the agency, the passenger initially claimed he did not know how the bullet-filled nappy ended up in his bag. Later he suggested his girlfriend put it there, the agency said.

The TSA identified the passenger as a man from Arkansas who had a ticket for a flight to Chicago’s Midway Airport, but did not disclose his name. Port Authority police cited him for unlawful possession of the 9mm ammunition.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, and the Queens district attorney’s office were contacted for comment.

It is the latest LaGuardia passenger to be found travelling with bullets, a problem that has cropped up at airports across the US.

Last month, TSA officers found a .45-calibre pistol and a magazine loaded with six bullets concealed in a pair of Nike trainers in a checked in bag at LaGuardia. Firearms are allowed to be transported as checked luggage, but only in a locked, hard-sided container — not shoes.

In January 2021, officers at a security checkpoint intercepted 13 bullets hidden in a Mentos chewing gum container inside a carry-on bag. The bullets were mixed in with pieces of gum, the TSA said. The passenger, who was charged with unlawful possession of ammunition, claimed the bag belonged to his son, the agency said.

In April, officers pulled a loaded .22-calibre pistol and two boxes of ammunition — more than 100 bullets in total — from a carry-on bag.

That passenger claimed he had been at a shooting range and forgot to remove the gun and bullets before heading to the airport, the TSA said, but he was still arrested.