EUROPE SEEKS TO FIGHT 'DRUGS TOURISM'

Police, customs and government officials from seven European countries
are meeting in The Hague to find ways of co-operating in the fight
against drug smuggling through airports.

It is the Caribbean connection that is causing the most
concern.

The Netherlands and the UK face the biggest problems in dealing with
drugs couriers coming from the region, and they are the organisers of
Friday's meeting of experts at Europol headquarters.

The Netherlands decided to implement drastic measures last month after
500 couriers a week were being arrested at Amsterdam airport.

Now, those caught with small amounts of hard drugs are immediately
deported.

And, after reports showed that 10% of passengers on flights between
Jamaica and Britain could be carrying cocaine, both countries recently
tightened security as part of a plan to stop drug mules bringing in an
estimated half of Britain's crack cocaine.

Cocaine Tourism

What the experts will do now is exchange ideas on the best ways to
deter couriers from taking the risk of carrying cocaine from one
country to another.

Most of them swallow around half a kilo of the drug wrapped in condoms
to earn between $2,000 and $5,000 from the drug barons.

The experts want to send a clear signal to them that their smuggle
routes are under attack.

But both sides realise that as long as there is a lure of ready cash
for people from the poorer parts of the Caribbean and elsewhere, the
battle against cocaine tourism will not be an easy one to win.