A 52-year-old Miami man is facing a felony charge after telling an American Airlines ticket agent he had a grenade, a remark that set off a bomb-detection K-9 sweep at Miami International Airport early Sunday morning. Osniel Blanco-Lopez told law enforcement afterward that he was just joking around, but deputies weren't laughing.
According to the arrest report, the ticket agent at MIA asked Blanco-Lopez the routine question airline staff pose to every traveler: do you have any dangerous goods? Blanco-Lopez said no, but then, per the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, said in Spanish, “I have a grenade,” before laughing, as first reported by WPLG Local 10. A nearby American Airlines ticket agent overheard the comment and told him, “That is not a joke,” per the same arrest report, before calling authorities.
Deputies responded and an airport bomb detection K-9 was brought in to check Blanco-Lopez's luggage, the report states. No explosives were found. He was transported to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office airport station and was later held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, with his bond listed as pending in online jail records as of Monday.
Bond Set at $1,000 as Airline Operations Continued Uninterrupted
Blanco-Lopez, a Cuban national, was arrested on a charge of making a false report about placing a bomb. He later appeared before a judge, who found probable cause and set his bond at $1,000, according to WSVN 7News. American Airlines resumed normal operations without flight disruptions following the K-9 sweep, the station reported.
Florida Division of Corporations records show Blanco-Lopez was previously listed as the registered agent and president of Envios Y Mas Express Inc., a Miami-based corporation registered in August 2024 that was administratively dissolved the following September, according to Sunbiz filings.
Florida's Bomb-Hoax Law Leaves No Room for ‘Just Joking’
Under Section 790.163 of the Florida Statutes, making a false report concerning a bomb, explosive, or weapon of mass destruction is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, 15 years of probation, and a $10,000 fine. The statute applies whether or not an actual explosive device exists, and notably, judges are barred from suspending, deferring, or withholding adjudication of guilt for the offense, meaning a conviction results in a mandatory permanent felony record.
Florida law also allows sentencing courts to order anyone convicted under the statute to pay full restitution for the costs of the law enforcement and emergency response the report triggered, potentially adding financial liability on top of criminal penalties. Separately, under federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 35 makes conveying false information or hoaxes about explosives at aviation facilities punishable by civil penalties up to $1,000 or up to five years in federal prison if done willfully or with reckless disregard for safety, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Not the First MIA ‘Joke’ to End in Handcuffs
Blanco-Lopez's arrest follows a familiar pattern at Miami International Airport, which processed 55.3 million passengers in 2025 and ranks as the nation's 8th-busiest airport, per Miami International Airport data. In January, Hoodline reported that a 49-year-old traveler was arrested and charged under the same statute after telling an American Airlines gate agent he had a bomb in his bag during a MIA gate bomb claim that forced an emergency deplaning and a K-9 sweep before he was booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
A similar case unfolded in July 2025, when a 22-year-old traveler was arrested on felony charges after making a verbal bomb joke to an Avianca Airlines customer service representative during routine luggage check-in questions, Hoodline previously reported. Airport policy requires immediate law enforcement intervention whenever dangerous-goods questioning prompts any mention of explosives, regardless of whether the traveler later insists the remark was made in jest.
Nationwide, the Federal Aviation Administration reports that disruptive passenger incidents have fallen sharply from a 2021 peak of nearly 6,000, but airlines still logged 1,205 such incidents in 2025 and more than 600 by mid-May 2026. The FAA maintains a zero-tolerance policy for passengers who disrupt aviation operations or disobey security protocols, a stance that airport ticket counters across the country, including MIA's, continue to enforce without exception.
