Just in case you needed more reason to loathe the TSA, we have news coming out of LAX today of a ring of screeners making thousands of dollars by letting things like, oh, eight pounds of meth through the security checkpoint. 

Usually we rail on the TSA for acting dumb and confiscating cupcakes, or making women pump breast milk, or patting down 4-year-olds for hugging their grandmas, or patting down 7-year-old would-be terrorists with cerebral palsy. But today, you can hate on Naral Richardson and his cohorts for being too smart, beating the system and allegedly accepting bribes to let drug couriers through. The Los Angeles Times' Victoria Kim reports that authorities have filed trafficking and bribery charges against Richardson and his crew, for half a dozen incidents between January and July 2011 which include the aforementioned eight pounds of meth, and one botched attempt that involved 11 pounds of cocaine. The crew have been taken into custody, and could face life in prison. "While these arrests are a disappointment, TSA is committed to holding our employees to the highest standards," a TSA official said. 

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Alexander Abad-Santos