Pubdate: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 Source: CNN (US) Contact: http://www.cnn.com/ Copyright: 1998 Cable News Network, Inc. A Time Warner Company Author: Associated Press CUSTOMS INSPECTORS TRY X-RAYS IN LIEU OF STRIP SEARCHES WASHINGTON (AP) -- For the first time, U.S. Customs inspectors at airports are giving passengers suspected of smuggling drugs the option of being X-rayed instead of strip searched. In a pilot program under way at New York's Kennedy International Airport and Miami International Airport, the Customs Service is giving some passengers who normally would be stripped searched another choice: Be taken to a nearby hospital for an X-ray that would reveal drugs that had been either ingested or hidden underneath clothing. "This is driven by the fact that it's an unpleasant experience for our employees and for anyone who has had to submit to a strip search," said U.S. Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly. The program started in October. Seven passengers at JFK were given the option to be X-rayed, but chose to be searched, officials said. Not all passengers are given the choice -- 44 passengers were required to be strip searched because inspectors felt something that could be drugs under their clothing. Kelly said custom inspectors do body searches on about 1,700 airline passengers a year. Some passengers are required to remove some or all of their clothing. The passengers have already been singled out by customs inspectors for a variety of reasons, including because the agency has information about them or because they are traveling from countries and on flights frequented by drug smugglers. Passengers are first interviewed and if inspectors think they may have drugs on them, they can be searched. Some passengers who were strip searched but didn't have drugs on them have sued the Customs Service. Kelly said the decision to start testing the use of X-rays was made primarily because the agency wanted to make searches less intrusive and less embarrassing. "Obviously there are lawsuits, but it's more of an overarching approach that technology is there to be used and can make our lives easier and the lives of the traveling public easier," he said. About 35 percent of those searched each year are found to be carrying drugs, said Kelly. Most of those smuggling heroin have ingested it by putting small bags of the drug in a condom, which they swallow. The Customs Service is also training supervisors at both airports to use magnetic imaging machines that may be employed in lieu of strip searches. Kelly said the service has not yet begun using the machines on passengers. - --- Checked-by: Patrick Henry