Brooklyn man tried to sneak gun past JFK security; hidden in PlayStation 2

‘Game Over’ for Oscar Ramirez

December 18, 2014 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

A Brooklyn man was caught by TSA agents at JFK airport on Wednesday after trying to sneak this disassembled .22 caliber semi-automatic onto a plane. Photo courtesy of TSA

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A Brooklyn man was arrested at JFK on Wednesday after trying to sneak a disassembled .22 caliber semi-automatic onto a plane inside a PlayStation 2 video game console.

The PlayStation 2 (PS2) was accompanied by the game “Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots,” featuring SpongeBob SquarePants.

Other gun components were tucked alongside a tripod and elsewhere in his baggage, according to the Port Authority Police Department.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers detected the gun parts as Oscar Ramirez, 48, tried to catch a morning flight to Mexico City. Ramirez lives on 45 Street in Brooklyn.

The security officers “detected something unusual among his carry-on items” as they passed along the conveyor belt through the x-ray machine, TSA said. They decided to remove the bottom of the PS2, which was in the man’s carry-on bag. Inside the console, officers discovered a piece of a .22 caliber gun.

Port Authority police officers responded to TSA’s alert and arrested Ramirez on a weapons charge at about 8:20 a.m., according to Joe Pentangelo, spokesperson for the Port Authority Police Department.

The PA police examined an air bike pump placed in Ramirez’s luggage, Pentangelo said. “The gun barrel was pushed in there.”

All parts of the Ruger handgun were discovered, he said, adding that a hidden handgun is considered especially dangerous. “It’s easier to secrete, making it more of a threat to society.”

Ramirez was due in Queens Criminal Court Thursday morning to face a charge of criminal possession of a handgun.

TSA officers have detected more than 2,100 guns at airport checkpoints so far this calendar year, a 16 percent increase from the 1,813 guns detected by TSA officers in all of 2013, according to the TSA.