It is really easy to open a cable tie unharmed, and lock it again with that same tie. Just push the "lock" down with a sharp object. Besides that the TSA has c

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