CUSTOMS INSPECTORS TRY X-RAYS IN LIEU OF STRIP SEARCHES

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For the first time, U.S. Customs inspectors at
airports are giving passengers suspected of smuggling drugs the option
of being X-rayed instead of strip searched. In a pilot program under
way at New York's Kennedy International Airport and Miami
International Airport, the Customs Service is giving some passengers
who normally would be stripped searched another choice: Be taken to a
nearby hospital for an X-ray that would reveal drugs that had been
either ingested or hidden underneath clothing.

"This is driven by the fact that it's an unpleasant experience for our
employees and for anyone who has had to submit to a strip search,"
said U.S. Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

The program started in October. Seven passengers at JFK were given the
option to be X-rayed, but chose to be searched, officials said. Not
all passengers are given the choice -- 44 passengers were required to
be strip searched because inspectors felt something that could be
drugs under their clothing.

Kelly said custom inspectors do body searches on about 1,700 airline
passengers a year. Some passengers are required to remove some or all
of their clothing.

The passengers have already been singled out by customs inspectors for
a variety of reasons, including because the agency has information
about them or because they are traveling from countries and on flights
frequented by drug smugglers. Passengers are first interviewed and if
inspectors think they may have drugs on them, they can be searched.

Some passengers who were strip searched but didn't have drugs on them
have sued the Customs Service. Kelly said the decision to start
testing the use of X-rays was made primarily because the agency wanted
to make searches less intrusive and less embarrassing.

"Obviously there are lawsuits, but it's more of an overarching
approach that technology is there to be used and can make our lives
easier and the lives of the traveling public easier," he said.

About 35 percent of those searched each year are found to be carrying
drugs, said Kelly. Most of those smuggling heroin have ingested it by
putting small bags of the drug in a condom, which they swallow.

The Customs Service is also training supervisors at both airports to
use magnetic imaging machines that may be employed in lieu of strip
searches. Kelly said the service has not yet begun using the machines
on passengers.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry