Juelz Santana wasn't just packing heat when he was stopped by the TSA last Friday at Newark airport.

Santana had eight oxycodone pills in his carry-on luggage in addition to an unconcealed .38 caliber Derringer handgun.

When TSA agents noticed the gun, Santana fled the scene and jumped in a cab. He was on the lam for a couple of days, before turning himself in Monday morning.

He's been locked up since then by the Feds on drug possession, attempting to bring a firearm on board a plane, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

He'll be in court this afternoon on the drug charges.  But the weapons charges should prove to be much more serious.

Santana already picked up a gun possession charge in 2011 after his studio in Bergenfield, New Jersey was raided by the Bergen County gang unit.

He's just lucky none of this is happening over the river in New York City, which has brutal gun laws