Police find nunchucks in South African man’s luggage

No nunchucks for you!

A South African man passing through JFK Airport found himself thrown in the slammer after police found nunchucks in his checked luggage, according to a lawsuit.

Karate brown-belt Jef d'Engle, 59, and his wife, Barbra, checked their bags, which held the nunchucks — also known as nunchaku, a traditional Japanese weapon consisting of two sticks connected at one end by a short chain or rope —, upon leaving Belgium. They didn't expect to see them again until they reached their final stop in Kingston, Jamaica.

But when they landed at JFK for a connecting flight, American Airlines handed back their bags and told them to go through security again, the d'Engles claim in a Manhattan federal court lawsuit against the city, the NYPD and the airline.

Nunchucks have been banned in the city since 1974, but the d'Engles never intended to set foot outside JFK during their October 2011 trip.

"We were supposed to be in the airport for two hours. It was an absolute nightmare," Jef d'Engle said.

Travelers can include nunchucks in checked baggage, according to the Transportation Security Administration — but an airport security officer confiscated them anyway.

As the couple left to catch their next flight, Jef d'Engle said, the security officer chased after them and suggested they might be able to get the forbidden items back.

"It was a ruse to get me back to that area," d'Engle says.

They were met by an NYPD officer who allegedly handcuffed d'Engle and dragged him out of the airport.

Then, while being detained in a filthy Queens jail cell, the vegan was offered a choice of meat or cheese sandwiches and denied access to his asthma inhaler, he says.

"This was like being in a horror movie," the father of seven recalled.

Terrified, he stood throughout the night, his asthma only worsening as an officer burned incense to try to relieve the smell from the dirty cell.

He was released the next morning after pleading guilty to disturbing the peace and paying a $270 fine.

"I was just so scared, I just wanted to get out of there," he said. "South Africa is a rough country, it's really bad — but I feel safer [there]."

The city said it will review the lawsuit. American Airlines declined comment.

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