TECHNOLOGY TO HELP WAR ON DRUGS

Customs is looking to arm itself with digital tracking technology in
the war against drug traffickers and smugglers.

Spokesman Rowan McArthur says it is planning to evaluate and trial
"surveillance technology", but would not divulge further details. "We
will not be elaborating on this for obvious reasons of security and
the potential for compromising our work in fighting the trade in
illicit drugs and other contraband."

About 20 per cent of illegal drugs imported into New Zealand are
detected by Customs, according to a report by the National Drug
Intelligence Bureau.

Geospatial Research Centre senior research scientist Steven Mills says
it is unlikely that GPS technology would be used to track intercepted
shipments, as satellite signals cannot penetrate buildings and metal
shipping containers and any tracking unit was likely to be
conspicuous. "Using GPS would probably require a large device with an
antenna and some sort of transmitter."

GPS receivers rely on satellite signals to determine their
location.

"Inertial sensors" measure acceleration and can be used for tracking,
but the technology is not small enough to be deployed covertly and
tends to become increasingly inaccurate over time, Dr Mills says.

Antony Dixon, chief executive of Lower Hutt RFID manufacturer Times-7,
says RFID technology is often used for tracking and can be
miniaturised so an RFID battery can be incorporated into a thin
sticker. But the battery would have a range of only about 20 metres,
making it impossible to track an item that was more than 20 metres
from an antenna.

RFID batteries (or tags) transmit radio signals that are read by
antennas.

Customs is also planning to research "next-generation x-ray and other
screening technology".

Meanwhile, police will be able to use wireless video cameras under a
proposed change to search and surveillance laws now before Parliament.
Napier telco Airnet has suggested that police use battery-powered
"keyhole" cameras that send encrypted video images over wireless
broadband links.