AIRPORT OFFICERS 'CON' UNWARY
Travellers are giving up thousands of dollars worth of alcohol, perfume and hair products that airport security officers have no authority to seize.
Ref. https://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,93498~4025550a34~,00.html
The TSA has lifted a few hundred dollars worth of stuff that I purchased for gifts when flying back to the states. In my history of dealing with them, I have "lost"; 2 bottles of sake, r2 ubber band shooting guns (made a nice gift I am sure), 3 children's games and a nice asian tea set. This does not even included the damage to luggage that I have dispensed will liberal ease. My samsonite luggage makes it through approximately 3 trips to the US. If I travel only within asia, my luggage would have an unlimited lifetime.
The TSA requires that your luggage is unlocked when traveling into or within the US. If not, it can be (and will be in cases) unlocked with force. However, they take no responsibility for any lost items in the unlocked luggage. So, it could be the TSA or actually the airport staff since anyone has a free shot at rummaging through your goodies. They do leave a nice note informing you that they were there and that they are not responsible for much of anything. I wrote a few letters of my feelings towards this process and to say the least the responses were less than satisfactory.
Now you could fight them at the checkpoints for your stuff, but in general, if you are in a hurry and have to make your flight, you don't put up a fight. They have a great setup there for taking advantage of travelers!