Drug Dog Sniffs Out Suspected Smugglers | Customs | Real Responders (2023)

Introduction

In Manchester, a radio message comes in from a pilot of an Easy Jet flight. Two female passengers are suspected of smoking cannabis in the plane's rear toilet. Liz searches a man hoping to enter the UK on a tourist VISA. The man confesses he is in the UK to meet his fiancee for the first time, who he met on the internet, and get married. At Gatwick airport, a flight arrives from the Port of Spain, and one bag in particular gets rookie drug dog Barney excited. Warren uncovers a false bottom in the suitcase, and inside is 3 kilos of pure cocaine worth £150,000, but the smuggler claims not to speak any English.

In Gatwick and Bristol Airports in England customs agents check baggage and travellers to uphold allowances and prevent illicit activity and substances from entering the UK.

Content owned and licensed from Off The Fence to Little Dot Studios.

For all questions, please contact owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com

Video

The uk border agency is at war with smugglers in the ports and airports.

You don't have to see anything, get that sniff out a suspect with a dodgy case facing a nutshell.

Okay, i think you have drugs in your baggage.

Okay, a search in manchester goes a bit too deep for this passenger.

Can all these go back in here? Oh right! Oh, this is your eyes.

This is your private collection.

Is it we just don't think things get ugly when a family are told their cigarettes are going to be seized in manchester? A radio message has come in from a pilot of an easyjet flight.

Two female passengers are suspected of smoking, cannabis in the plane's rear, toilets i'll, go upstairs all right i'll go upstairs.

The pressure is now on for sniffer dog amy to identify the suspects amongst the crowd, stay single file to the right.

Please, as you call me through thanks just stay to the right to keep walking past aims, i'm here just lower that back.

For me, please, amy amy is looking for drugs, but uk border officer phil is trying to spot suspicious behavior thanks so much.

There was a girl who didn't really want to.

I don't know whether she had a small handbag.

She if it was here, she wasn't too keen on lowering it for the dog.

It wasn't a definite indication, so amy boards the plane to search the seats for any drugs ditched by the suspects.

Hey am i in about the general area where she was sat.

Yeah yeah dog isn't pinpointing any particular ages.

It's very busy around all those seats staff have been on already and going to say to the whole area, and so what they could be.

The dog could just be picking up the residual smell of whatever she's been doing being taken with no physical evidence left on the plane.

The officers will stop and search the two suspects for any cannabis.

Unexpectedly, the officer gets a hit for cocaine.

It's quite noticeable that this particular one wasn't keen for the dog to go anywhere near and bad sounds good.

They are getting traces off them at the moment for cocaine, so so the the officers are just doing further investigation on that at the moment.

Confronted with the evidence, one of the girls admits to having taken cocaine, but with such strong traces officers are still highly suspicious.

Well still getting hits absolutely uh everywhere for cope.

That's the thing you said you used some last night, yeah first logos.

I also got hits on the plane for code so from the dog officers have no jurisdiction over drug use abroad, but they suspect the girl may be carrying cocaine internally.

It's a serious crime with potential trafficking consequences.

Also, you've got suspicion that you could have drugs internally somewhere because there's none in your bag.

So what i have to do here: okay, uh, i'm arresting you, okay, i'm suspicious of being involved the legal implication of controlled substance; cocaine, it's okay! On this one! I have to actually you do not have to say anything.

Okay, we may harm your defense.

You prefer to mention something question you later or i'll require anything you do say will be given in evidence.

Do you understand that right? The girls will now be savage x-rayed.

What happens when you don't find it if nothing's found and i'm sure you'll be arrested and go on your way? Their ordeal is far from over in gatwick.

Officers are x-raying the bags off a flight from turkey, it's outside the eu and a regular source for smuggling cheap cigarettes.

But the team have their blocks about this particular flight.

It's um holidays flight, which means it tends to be the older generation.

If we get cigarette seizures off this i'll eat my tie, but straight away, the officers find over 4 000 cigarettes.

They then head upstairs to see who collects the bags they watch as the passengers walk straight through nothing to declare it's at this point.

The events have been committed.

You've come into the green, nothing to declare channel, which means you've got no more than one liter of spirits.

Each one package, one packet 200 cigarettes each as long as you're over 17.

Oh we've got 200.

How many do that? I've got yourself um by coming into the green channel over the allowances.

You have committed an event right so because you've come into the green channel.

The penalty will be today for me to seize all the cigarettes from you.

Sorry, i think if i can go over to france, you have a price.

Now i can legally go to price with a 79 lorry, fill it up with one maker, fax and come through legally you're, not going to be done, for it doesn't matter how many you bring through yeah.

But that is because it comes it's going to europe and tax has been paid into europe by buying them in turkey yeah, but not to the european union yeah.

But the problem is you've come to europe, turkey's not in the european union turkey's in europe, but it's not in the european union and by not being in the european union.

That means tax is not paid into the european union, which is why you have an allowance of two hundred at the end of the day by coming into the green channel, it's an outright offense where they come from turkey, turkey, you're at 200, in the european.

That's it i'll come from europe, not the european union.

200.

It's the difference! I'M going around the red channel! Sorry, no! No come down there coming into the you've, come into the green channel right i'll.

Take them! No wonder! It'll allow it to be mine.

No by coming in, but by coming into this by coming into the trailer, even more money from me bad enough, the government can rip in your inheritance and every other attacks, and then these must do the same.

Taking cigarettes from tired passengers can often boil, over into same angry confrontations.

Seen the last of this man's temper back in manchester, the suspected smuggler's plan is beginning to unravel and their attempt to dispose of the evidence has failed.

I think okay, what was the form? One of the officers found a package by the bench which we think one of the girls has actually dropped.

It was uh found to be cannabis in a sock, he's actually looked, and within the cannabis he's found a small plastic bag.

Like a deal bag containing some white powder.

We suspect that to be cocaine, the girl who was traveling with her the officers have conducted a search of person during the search of person.

They found another package, it's a similar, it's a sock containing cannabis.

They weren't sure whether they could feel something else.

So they upgraded the search to a strip, search and they've done a strip search now and they're.

Quite happy.

She's got nothing on a person, but having detected such high hits for cocaine, the girls are led away for a full body.

X-Ray class a smugglers face a maximum of life in prison, just get in there and sit down please you're best, not talking to each other.

If you talk to each other, we'll have to take you one at a time and it'll take longer dealing with suspected drug swallowers is also stressful for the officers.

If the girls do have packages internally, it's a life-threatening situation by using the machines we have in the green channel.

We've found very high traces of cocaine, so we believe they could well have concealments of cocaine inside them.

We just simply put the passenger on the machine and it passes the person through the machine.

We instantly get an image on screen that we can examine and if we can see packages there and the backups across the while we await the packages to pass through the system.

You tell us, we've got to be 100 sure, there's nothing up there.

If we say there's nothing there and if it is something like cocaine that don't know the package does split, you know you're talking about the seconds before you suffer a fatal overdose, so we want, to be honest, some sense sure there's nothing there before we say yeah.

It's negative: if you put your feet on them, marks hold on to either side.

Let's be a couple of seconds and it'll start moving.

Thankfully, both scans are clear, but the girls are still in trouble.

Two weeks later, the court decided the drugs were for personal use.

Only and they got a 12 month suspended sentence for the attempted importation and back in the gatwick's search bay, things seem to have calmed down a bit back.

There mate i'm not going to tell anyone, because if i did it could be.

You look at me like that, believe me, you'll, be on your own wow.

The gentleman wasn't too happy about the fact that i was seizing his cigarettes, but it is a right offense.

Coming in from turkey, you are only allowed one packet 200 cigarettes.

You have to be over the age of 17 and they were in very much in excess of their allowances good evening it was until we met you coming up.

Sniffer dogs at gatwick make a significant discovery in the bottom of a suitcase.

Basically, in a nutshell, okay, i think you have drugs in your baggage.

Cocaine coming up border officers dig a bit too deep into one mouth bag.

This is your private collection.

Is it at gatwick airport a flight has just landed from port of spain.

Saint lucia uk border officers need to closely monitor flights from the caribbean.

A known source area for cocaine.

Sniffer dogs are a powerful tool in fighting smugglers in particular, gets rookie drug dog barney excited.

I took barney um to where caribbean flight was landing and he gave a really nice indication on the passengers bag um.

The passenger is acting nervous and warren decides to do some background checks.

I mean it's quite a presentable bloke that you probably wouldn't look at too much, but when darren's come up and said the dog's indicated on the back.

Obviously, you focus on on that bloke when we focus on him in the queue he's quite nervous and he's you know, he's showing signs that he doesn't really want to be there.

He wants to be straight through and out, and obviously when he's been intercepted as well, he's he's showed out there as well he's fiddling with the bag.

He doesn't want to make eye contact with you and then from initially speaking, really good english.

He doesn't seem to understand what what i'm saying to him so yeah.

So it's all there, the man's bag is put through an x-ray to check for irregularities and straight away confirms barney's suspicions all right, very carefully.

Okay, i know your english is not good.

Okay, i'm arresting you on suspicion of being involved in the illegal importation of a controlled drug.

Okay, you didn't have to say anything, but it may harm your defense.

If you do not mention when questioning something which you later rely on, anything you do say may be given in evidence.

Do you understand what i said to you, but basically, in a nutshell: okay, i think you have drugs in your baggage and that's why you've been arrested.

What i think you have drugs in your bag in here, okay, so you've been arrested.

For that.

Yes, we'll explain it a bit more for later on.

Okay, warren has uncovered a false bottom in the suitcase, but with the man now claiming not to understand english, it's going to take a while to get to the bottom of the story at manchester border officers.

In the immigration area have asked officer liz to search a man hoping to enter the uk on a tourist visa as they have concerns okay, this gentleman's coming into the country to meet some of these met on the internet.

It's a girlfriend and he's coming into the uk to see her for the first time and how long is it here for six months six months, and why have you come to the uk um to eventually try to get married to my girlfriend? I've proposed her over online all right.

She accepted oh excellent.

The reason that we're going to search for these bags now is the immigration officers who questioned him upstairs when they took his passport off and entered the uk and because of what he said.

His reason for staying here that's why they want us to search his bags to see if there's any documents in there doesn't indicate he's going to stay in the uk for longer than what is intimating.

When did you meet your girlfriend uh back in october october 1908.? Yeah, the man is being unusually candid, but his story has all the hallmarks of an immigration scam all right, so you met her in october 08.

Where was that uh on an online game? Oh in an online game, yeah, oh right: what game was that uh second life? Second, life yeah? What's that all about? What's what what kind of game is that? Is it like a role-playing game, all right, okay, right, so you've proposed to someone you've never even met the man's honesty is starting to get him into trouble.

So when you get married um when, when do you plan to get married, well, we're gon na try to give it about a month or two and then we're gon na if we're still madly in love with each other, all right, good! Okay, now we're gon na apply for the marriage visa right and where will he live? Will you live here or in the states? Uh i'll live with her, but this is against immigration rules and unless he begins to explain himself, the romance may have to remain online.

All right, okay, all right! This is the movie collection.

It seems the custom search is starting to go a bit deeper than the man would like.

What's up, oh right! Oh, this is your eyes.

This is your private collection.

Is it that's? Okay treads still in front of me: you've got the cannabis in there it's a bit of a bit of weed there is it liz discovers what could be cannabis and suddenly the man becomes pervasive.

Is that what it is? I'M not really sure you're, not sure? Okay, you just standing on there for a minute.

The man's bid to meet his fiancee looks on increasingly shaky ground in gatwick.

The suspected smuggler has been taken to the custody suite.

Meanwhile, warren investigates what's hidden inside the suitcase.

It's pretty.

It's pretty well done.

Actually, basically, you can see it's got a like a false bottom in it.

What we want to do is just to spike it and test whatever's underneath and see what we've got there.

You can see that you've got like a white powder all pasted on there.

In there it's like a field test for cocaine.

Warren has found a white powder in the structure of the suitcase you can see.

It start to go blue already, so we've got cocaine in there and it's a big haul for the team.

How much do you think's there? One three kilos, three, two three that's good man has to be held.

While a bulgarian translator is found, the officers are now able to communicate the seriousness of the crime right.

For that reason, okay, he was arrested on suspicion.

He um it doesn't for foreign drug dog barney, it's his first seizure and he's in line for a big reward from handler darren.

I'M really pleased he's a new dog to me, but he's doing really well, i think, he's a star in the making good look at back in manchester.

Immigration have asked customs officer liz to examine the bags of a passenger from the u.s with a suspicious story and some suspicious baggage.

This guy's just come over from america and he's come to see his internet girlfriend, who he's never met before it sounds like he's intending to stay, so it sounds more like an immigration issue than from our point of view.

I've just been looking he's got some adult dvds, but i've just found a little tiny, tiny, just a little residue potentially of cannabis herbal cannabis.

So i'm just going to give it a quick test and just see if it is or not yeah.

So i've got a positive reaction.

It's a it's, a very, very small amount.

I mean obviously he's been very upfront up front about what his intentions are, which could be unfortunate for him depending on what immigration decide.

But from what he's been saying to me, it does sound like he does intend to um.

You know come over here to get married and, to you know, stay here with his with his with his wife when he gets married liz thinks the cannabis is probably just a sign of personal use and so decides to hand him back to immigration yeah.

It's it's reactively positive for into cannabis.

I mean have you got any drugs on you at all today? No okay, okay.

What will happen now is uh, we'll take you back upstairs um i'll, just show the immigration officer, the paperwork that i found.

Okay and then it'll be up to them, then they might want to ask you a few more questions.

Okay, basically, he's applied for a visit visa, which means he's come here for the purpose of tourism.

When he's actually got to the immigration desk, he told the immigration officer that he's come to meet his girlfriend, so it sounds really like he's come.

He doesn't intend to go back at all.

So i've passed that information onto the immigration officer, they'll interview him and they'll make a decision about whether or not to let him come into the uk or whether to send him back home to america.

The man was allowed into the uk to meet his fiancee for the first time, but their relationship has been put on hold as he was returned to the united states.

The next day the bulgarian was charged with smuggling cocaine.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

You