 | Drug Testing: Travellers asked to help train drug dogs |
 New Zealand (Weekend) Herald, 13 October 2001
By Tony Wall
Passengers at Auckland Airport are being given traces of
drugs to put in their pockets and told it is to help to train
sniffer dogs.
The dog training is part of a Customs Service push to crack
down on white-powder drugs that has led to a big increase
in interceptions in the past year.
But the "live" training exercises involving passengers worry
the Auckland District Law Society, which wants the service
to use its own staff or independent, paid volunteers.
The drug dog unit's team leader, Cliff Russell, says
passengers are used to make conditions as realistic as
possible for the dogs.
The team randomly chooses passengers who are not
considered a risk.
Mr Russell says officers try to use adults but do not ask a
passenger's age. Most are happy to cooperate.
Once a person agrees to take part, a piece of card or paper
is placed in his or her pockets.
The card or paper has previously been kept in a jar
containing drugs such as Ecstasy and cocaine for a week or
more, and the odour from the drugs is absorbed by the
card.
The person is then asked to walk though a
Customs-controlled area where the dog on duty is
supposed to detect the odour.
Mr Russell says tests show that the odour lasts only about
an hour outside the jar.
A woman whose 17-year-old son agreed in July to help
Customs with the test says she was concerned when she
heard about it.
Erin Foster, a US-based New Zealander, says she has
travelled extensively throughout the world and has never
seen such a practice.
She has always told her children never to speak to people
at airports or take anything from them, even if they are in
uniform.
Erin Foster says she is concerned that the smell of the
drugs might have lingered on her son's clothing and got
him into trouble for future travel.
Law Society spokesman Gary Gotlieb says it is a "bit
cheeky" of Customs to ask passengers to take part in dog
training when the service could easily use its own people.
He says he would not personally agree to such a request.
The smell of drugs could permeate clothing and cause
problems at other ports.
Customs says white-powder drug interceptions have
jumped significantly since it started training the dogs a
couple of years ago.
In the year to June 30, 500 drug interceptions occurred at
air and marine ports and mail centres throughout the
country, up 100 on the previous year.
Of those, 47 involved white-powder drugs, a jump of 70 per
cent on the previous two years.
The dogs can now detect drugs such as Ecstasy,
methamphetamine (speed) and even LSD, which were
previously thought not to give off an odour. Cannabis, which
gives off a strong smell, has previously been the main
target of drug dogs.
The head of the Auckland police drug squad, Detective
Senior Sergeant Colin McMurtrie, says Ecstasy and speed
are taking over as the drugs of choice in New Zealand.
Almost all Ecstasy is imported, while most speed is
produced here.
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