Travellers asked to help train drug dogs

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.

* tony_wall@nzherald.co.nz