NEW SEARCH PROGRAM FOR U.S. CUSTOMS

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: Pat Dolan