It is really easy to open a cable tie unharmed, and lock it again with that same tie. Just push the &quot;lock&quot; down with a sharp object.<p>Besides that the TSA has cable ties too. It&#x27;s not like you can&#x27;t buy them off the shelve. In your example case the TSA clearly didn&#x27;t bother spending the time to make it not look like they opened your bag, but it isn&#x27;t a very reliable way to see if they opened your bag.