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UK: London police use X-rays to crack down on drugs

AFP

Sunday 28 Mar 2004

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LONDON, Mar(AFP) - British police have tested a new X-ray scanner designed
to replace strip searches at clubs and bars, arresting several dozen people
on drugs charges in an operation in two London pubs, Scotland Yard announced.

"The machine has been a fantastic success," said Chief Superintendant Andy
Bamber, from the north London borough of Brent, which is described as a
"problem area" for the traffic of soft drugs, particularly cannabis.

Friday night's operation, involving 400 police officers, targeted two pubs
with a largely Irish and Jamaican clientele.

Thirty-four people were arrested for offences including the 'possession of
drugs with intent to supply, the possession of an offensive weapon, credit
card fraud and immigration offences', Scotland Yard said in a statement.

The scanner, weighing 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) and measuring 2.13
metres (seven feet), has "the ability to see through their clothing and
produce an image of anything they have hidden under their clothing or in
their pockets", said Superintendant Malcolm Baker.

"The machine provides a digital image within seconds and reduces the need
for physical body searches.... It is far quicker, simpler and less
intrusive than an intimate search," the police statement explained.

"It takes out the confrontation, the frustration and the time when people
have to be strip-searched," added Detective Chief Superintendant Steve James.

"Can you imagine searching 100 people at the police station? We would be
there until Monday morning."

In Friday's test operation, the scanner was used overtly, with the consent
of the person being scanned.

In its present form the machine would only be used with people's knowledge,
but could possibly be adapted for undercover use, according to Scotland Yard.

 

 

 

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