Concealment in baggage

M. SALIMULLAH
ARTICLE (January 26 2008): Drug Enforcement Cell of Pakistan Customs (Airport Unit) has been established to curb the menace of the drug trafficking, the administrative head of DEC is Collector of Customs (Preventive) Custom House, Karachi.

At the time of its inception in the year 1976, it operated both at the airport & at wharfs from its headquarters at the Karachi Port under the direct command of Assistant Collector of Customs Hqrs, Customs House, Karachi. This cell works for drug interdiction at all the exports Stations that include the ports of Karachi & Muhammad Bin Qasim, airfreight unit and the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.

This cell is staffed with some very experienced officers who also utilise the services of special trained drugs sniffing dogs. With the increasing workload, the airport unit of the DEC was separated from Wharfs on 1st January, 1991.

From the date onwards, the DEC airport unit is utilising all the available sources and expertise in efficiency dealing with drug trafficking through air routes. Till January, 2001, all the prosecution cases being registered under Customs Act, 1969.

However, in accordance with the rulings passed by the Apex court of the county, now-a-days, the cases are being registered under newly enacted "Control of Narcotics Substance Act, 1997". The field staff of the DEC, posted at the International Departures Hall of Jinnah International Airport is thus entrusted with duel responsibilities ie they enforce the provisions of Customs Act, 1969 as well as that of the Control of Narcotics Substance Act, 1997.

It is also worth mentioning here that it is the policy of the Customs Department of facilitate the passengers besides law enforcement. It is an intricate and somewhat unpleasant / unthankful job. It is considered that every passenger is honourable and everyone is suspected one. It is under these working conditions that the field staff carves out the culprits.

An interestingly important part of the DECs enforcement side is that all the drug trafficking cases detected by the field staff were so perfectly framed that we achieved almost 100% conviction rate ie whoever was apprehended by Customs for drug trafficking was punished by the trail courts. This factor alone speaks of the professional expertise of the Department.

I am representing for my years long association with DEC has professionally benefited me in such a manners that I have learnt a lot on the sensitive subject of drug trafficking and various modus operandi employed by the drug traffickers and Mafia. I feel privileged to share my knowledge and experience on the topics of Concealment Methods with my counterparts with the hope that it will yield better results. I have divided the topic of Concealment in two categories. One is "Baggage concealments: and other is "Body concealments".

BAGGAGE CONCEALMENTS:

Our job is based on doubts. We suspect a passenger on doubts. We study his travelling documents to know about his profession, flight route, final destination, place of issue. Name of the travelling agency if issued in Pakistan etc-etc.

This brief interview provides us enough information about passenger's purpose of visit to Pakistan (In case of foreigner) purpose of visiting abroad (In case of Pakistani passenger), has himself finance the trip or being sponsored by some one else and using him a carrier. After scrutiny and the interview then comes the passenger's baggage. Only such a short time left at your disposal to either to check OR let him go.

Experience shows that in most of the cases, the trafficker passengers report at the Customs checking counters only minutes before the flight departure. Soon after reporting for the Customs check, they keep on pressurising the officer to check him quickly so that he does not miss the flight.

This time fact is very important. Once the officer has thoroughly scrutinised the documents, interviewed the passenger, it becomes rather easier to treat and clear the passenger accordingly. At the same time, a work of advice from the senior officer can help better enforcement.

It is interested that there exists a sort of "unwritten" competition between the enforcement staff and Mafia involved in drug trafficking. The Mafia keeps on inventing and employing & untested methods of concealments.

On the other hand, with every interception & seizures, the method becomes obsolete but are used after years & year again. I have over the years, seen concealments in almost everything. To name a few, the drugs were found concealed in suitcases / travelling bags / briefcases / vanity boxes (Beauty Boxes) trolley bags / Crew Leather hand bags, coat hangers (also soaked / coated) handles of all kinds, shaving creams, juice powder tins / cans, food stuff tins, Henna Cones (Menhdi cones) steel nut bolts, plastered hand / leg (posing as if the person has undergone an orthopedic surgery) dry fruits ie hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, dates, baby prams, kitchen utensils, shoes, tennis / cricket / hockey / base / foot balls, water melons, cauliflowers, knives / scissors (handles) books, photo albums, TV, Radio tape recorders, speakers, water pumps, Electric musical instruments, status, onyx wares, vases, cardboard cartons (walls+bottom) soaked coated clothes, audio/ video cassettes, glucose boxes, medicines especially capsules, wheel chairs, Electric fans, gum sticks, wall clocks, liquid tins, ladies make up kits, bicycles, garments, juicer machines, shampoo bottles, ball points, fountain pens, sweet & toffees, Gas cylinders, blankets, medical surgery instruments / equipments, thread cones, copper sire spools, fax / toilet paper rolls etc-etc.

Detection of narcotics concealment in baggage articles in considered to be a classified job. Officer keep on learning and heading towards perfection with the passage of time. Here, I would like to briefly discuss some common detection techniques employed by Pakistan Customs staff at the Karachi airport. In most of the cases, the drug was found concealed in suitcases.

First of all contents of the suitcase are inspected from drug inter dictation point of view, secondly, the suitcase are examined to detect concealment on secret parts. For this purpose, the officer knocks and taps at different part of the suitcase especially top & bottom. A stuffed suitcase gives you a dull sounding whereas an ordinary suitcase sounds sharply.

In short there is difference of sound which one case learn only by the daily experience. I always advise my colleagues to empty the suspected suitcase of their contents and then judge its weight. A stuffed suitcase is normally abnormally heavier than the normal one. Some very goods seizures were made on these techniques. The traffickers also use soft cover zipper suitcases. In this type of suitcases, the real wall and handled console are the most important parts.

We always emphasise on these parts and have been successful at times. While examining the suitcases, the officer should also look for the tempering marks, glue remnants and odor, tempered screw/bolts and smell etc-etc. It helps a lot in determining the status of the suitcase etc.

Heroin is an odorless narcotics. Some traffickers spray the suitcase with strong smelling scents etc. It is also an abnormal sign. If a suitcase smells strongly must be checked thoroughly. Another method used by the traffickers is to smuggle the soaked / coated form of heroin. What is soaked / coated heroin? In this method, heroin is first dissolved in a suitable solvent and then a piece of cloth or cardboard is soaked in this solution. The heroin is thus absorbed in cloth / cardboard piece in an undetectable manner.

To retrieve the heroin, these soaked / cardboard pieces are again dipped into a solvent so that the soaked heroin is again dissolved. Finally heroin is separated either by evaporation or any other suitable method. Although, detection of soaked heroin is a bit difficult, however a little application of mind gives positive results.

The heroin soaked cloth/ cardboard pieces change their normal appearance and texture; they become a bit stiff and heavier. Moreover, they also smell badly. This is enough for the enforcement officer to detect the case with the presence of mind.

BODY CONCEALMENTS:

Drug concealment in body cavities is a rather frequently experienced phenomenon at Karachi airport. This method has rapidly developed within past few years and in most of the cases, the African Negroes were found involved in such kind of drug trafficking. In such cases heroin is first packed in a small polythene packets which are then tightly secured with many layers of insulation tapes. This forms a heroin filled capsules.

These heroin filled capsules are either swallowed by or pushed into the trafficker's body anus. Some traffickers also conceal the drug packets in their pockets; shoes, under wears and even tie it round the Thais or in bodies with the insulation tapes. For this reason, the suspected passengers are ought to be subjected to personal search.

The best possible way of detecting the drug concealment inside body cavities is through X-rays. However, the passengers carrying drugs concealed inside their body cavities pose a number of problems for the enforcement staff. For all, they often travel in groups consisting of 6-10 persons and report at the Customs counters only minutes before scheduled departure time of their flight.

Thus leaving a very short time for the staff to determine their genuineness or else. They resist the X-ray exercise on one pretext or the other. They claim that X-rays are injurious for their health. The female traffickers would always claim that they are pregnant and X-rays could lead to miscarriage. They even threaten the officer of the dire consequences stating that they would lodge protest through their embassies.

Be firm and positive with cool head. Listen them patiently and send them for radiological tests one by one. Only one positive result helps a lot and the rest of the passengers feel demoralised and resort to co-operate with the Customs. Till recent past, the traffickers are using some yellow insulation reflector tapes on the capsules which gives deceiving results. The first such case was detected by me. Due to the shortage of resources, still we are preparing ourselves to combat this problem as well.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

What I feel must for the enforcement staff is that:

a) They should be sincere to their job and fully aware of their legal authority.

b) They should be mentally prepared to take the task.

c) They should be fully aware of the profiled passengers, flights, routes, and destinations.

d) They should be quick in interviewing the passenger's and scrutinising their travelling documents to determine their credentials / status.

e) They should be able to quickly ascertain the purpose of passenger's travelling abroad and whether he himself financed the trip or some one else sponsored it for him

f) They should be good face readers and able to understand the body language and last but not least they should be firm & polite.

DETECTION INDICATORS:

a) Passenger's status and credential, his purpose of travel, route, destination, fight and trip arrangements.

b) Passenger's expressions and behaviour.

c) Abnormally heavier suitcase / baggage articles.

d) It gives a dull knocking sound.

e) Presence of any good/items in the baggage which does not suit the passenger's requirements.

f) Inappropriate dress of the passenger with regard to the weather.

SOME MEMORABLE SEIZURES:

a) Foodstuff/ Powdered, Juice Cans (Tang), Tang tins were suspected as some Nigerian came for the delivery of contrabands in a local hotel at the airport. As he felt that he was being watched, he left the contrabands at the counter and ran away. Upon examination, heroin was recovered. Modus operandi was that the base of the tin was removed, heroin was stuffed and the base was re-fixed. Case was detected by me due to the small marks of tempering with.

b) Trolley Tubes & make up kits. A small packet of heroin kept in the middle & cream was packed in lower & upper portions of the times.

c) Henna Cones (Menhdi). Small packets of heroin was packed in the cover of Henna Mehndi cones. Due to the abnormal weight, it was suspected. The cone was ripped open and heroin was recovered.

d) Nut Bolts:- Large size of nut bolts were suspected. Minute inspection revealed that a small whole was drilled in the nuts, heroin was filled & top was closed / screwed. It was also suspected due to the weight.

e) Dry Fruits:- In many a case, walnuts were used for drug concealments. The two halves of the walnuts were smartly separated, inner space was used to conceal the drugs & the hales were re fixed to give its normal look. Suspected due to weight & smelling glue.

f) Wheel chairs / Baby Carts / Prams / Bicycles. Hollow metallic roads / tubes of these articles were used to conceal narcotics. Heavy weight & abnormal knocking sound helped detecting the case.

g) TV / Tape, Deck & other electronic gadgets / appliances:- There is always sufficient space in such gadgets / appliances for drug concealments. Whenever any passenger found carrying these items, especially from a third woruld country like Pakistan, must be checked thoroughly. Often gives positive results.

h) Cutlery Handles / Audio / Video Cassettes / Balls / Gum Sticks / clocks: Weight factor always played a vital role while checking these items. Considering this factor alone made remarkable seizures. Weight Factor is the main cause of detections.

i) Ceramics / Plastic Crockery:- In some cases heroin was artfully concealed in ceramics and in melamine crockery. In one interesting instance, a melamine bowl was covered with another bowl & heroin was concealed in the interstice. In this case too, weight aspect played a vital role.

j) Books / Photo Albums:- Hard covers of books / photo albums are hollowed out and filled with heroin powder covered with plastic / paper sheet. An Indonesian lady was arrested at the airport as she had few photo albums wherein her photographs were pasted. Heroin powder was duly packed in small and thin polythene packets were placed in between layers of photo album pages. The officer pierced a paper pin to find that heroin was concealed in the album? In this case 4 KGs white heroin was recovered from these photo albums.

k) Watermelons:- Lower portion of the watermelon was cut open. The pulp was taken out, heroin was kept and cut peel was replaced and fixed with scotch tape. This case was detected by Sri Lanka Customs at Colombo airport.

l) Stitched in garments: Small packets of 3-5 grams of heroin are stitched in the garments in the embroidery. Such kind of case have also been detected abroad.

These are rambling recollections of practical experience. By their very nature they can be exhaustive. As ling as the phenomenal financial benefit from drug trafficking continues, ever new techniques will continue to emerge and the eternal chase will continue. Who outsmarts the others? Only the time will tell but we will continue to fight against the drugs which has spoiled millions of the families in this world.

A few photocopies of some seizures are enclosed.


Copyright Business Recorder, 2008