INSPECTORS LOOK HARD FOR TERROR

America's oldest cop on the beat, the U.S. Customs Service, is taking
on its newest task in Central Florida with a rookie's vigor.

That means looking for suspected terrorists among millions of
international travelers before they reach Florida, a state visited by
most of the Sept. 11 hijackers as they made their plans for the
attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

No terrorists have been apprehended in the campaign, but increased
vigilance has turned up more drug smugglers than usual across the
country and in Orlando.

"Being out at the airport and hitting it hard, we've seen an increase
in our seizures," said Customs Special Agent Stephen Callan, head of
investigations for Central Florida ports and international airports.

"We're continuing our presence for anti-terrorism and if, as a result
of this, it drives the price up and the purity down, it's one of the
indicators we're having an impact."

Nationwide, seizures jumped 28 percent to nearly 1 million pounds of
marijuana, cocaine and other drugs from September to December
compared with the same time period in 2000.

In Orlando, seizures doubled to 23, according to Customs officials.

The impact was so quick that one veteran Central Florida drug agent
considers the war on terrorism America's first real war on drugs.

"It's like the first time in 30 years where drug dealers are scared
to be moving drugs across borders, said Bill Lutz, head of the
Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, a drug and vice task force of
Orange County police agencies.

"This year, because of Sept. 11, everything has dropped off."

Passengers on international flights and overseas cruises are screened
by 75 customs inspectors assigned to Orlando, Daytona Beach,
Melbourne, Port Canaveral and Sanford.

Known as "meeters and greeters," they question and occasionally
search arriving and departing travelers for everything from Cuban
cigars to computer chips.

Today's terrorists are the latest in a line of suspects dating back
to 1789, when the first customs inspector went to work.

"We're continuously getting updates on who's out there. And who's
coming," Karl A. Brown, Customs' area port director for Central
Florida, said of trying to spot terrorists in the crowds of travelers
arriving every day to visit Walt Disney World.

"We're watching them as they come in, and equally now, more so than
before, we're watching them as they go out. Our posture has been
elevated."

One of the agency's newest tools requires all inbound international
flights to file passenger manifests before landing so names can be
checked against data bases compiled by intelligence agencies and U.S.
and foreign police.

The mandatory rule adopted after Sept. 11 lets customs inspectors
know if any of the 9,500 international passengers arriving daily at
Orlando International Airport warrant immediate attention. The rest
are screened the old-fashioned way, one at time.

The amount of information the Customs Service can access is enormous,
and very detailed.

While the agency won't disclose how its screening or inspectors work,
take American citizen Abdul Yasin as a case in point to illustrate
how ready officials are to react.

Whistles are sure to sound if his name turns up on an Orlando-bound manifest.

Here's what they have on him:

Born in Bloomington, Ind., in 1960, Yasin is identified by the U.S.
Treasury for undisclosed reasons as a "Specially Designated Global
Terrorist."

He uses Social Security No. 156-92-9858 and carries U.S. passport No.
27082171, issued nine years ago in Jordan. He also carries an Iraqi
passport, No. M0887925, and uses four known aliases, according to a
Customs Service watch list.

If he shows up, they'll nab him on the spot.

While most people would agree in theory that it's good to know
security is heightened, the increased scrutiny can mean longer waits
at Customs, clashing with the interests of tourists wanting to rush
off their flights straight into their vacations.

But security always outweighs commerce, Callan said.

"Orlando International, for example, would like their tourists to
come down, get right through into the rental car, seamlessly,
conveniently. They want people to say, 'Oh, what a breeze it was to
go through that,' " said Callan, who supervises 30 agents assigned to
smuggling cases.

"It's our point that's all well and good -- however, we've still got
to function."

The same is true of shipping the latest high-technology do-dad overseas.

Repeating his pitch to Central Florida's technology manufacturers and
bankers, Callan said, "You guys know what the norm is. And, now more
than ever, we're asking you when something comes in suspicious, give
us a call and get us involved early."

"It's a matter of national security," he said. "The life you save may
be your own."