Drugs search caused long customs delay

Press, 15 October 1986, Page 9

Drugs search caused long customs delay

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor Two men suspected of carrying drugs on a flight from Sydney indirectly caused a long deiay for passengers clearing customs at Christchurch Airport last Friday. Customs officers had to be diverted from the immigration processing desks to assist in searching the two suspects. As a result, the last passengers from the flight were not cleared until 1% hours after the aircraft landed. * Mrs G. Mclnnes, of Diamond Harbour, said she waited in the queue for an hour before her papers were checked by a customs officer. By the time she got through, only two of the six desks were manned, she said. “I felt very sorry for a group of elderly Japanese tourists who were also kept waiting — the delay was quite disgraceful,” she said. Mrs Mclnnes was one of 374 passengers on the Qantas flight which landed about 4.35 p.m.

Complaints have already prompted the Christchurch Airport Authority to take up the matter with the Customs Department. "What happened on Friday probably did our tourism image a lot of harm,” said the chainpan of the Christchurch City Council’s airport and electricity committee, Dr Morgan Fahey. He emphasised, however, that'he was not criticising customs officers who had to do a difficult task. He said the incident illustrated a lack of staff organisation, “There can be no excuse to force tired and innocent travellers, many of whom have travelled for 24 hours or more, to queue for two hours to face six counters manned by only two customs officers,” said Dr Fahey. “The airport authority is fully behind an effective drug detection system at the airport but this should not be delivered with the degree of discomfort experienced by so many passengers

last week. "We have received many reasonable complaints about delays in the past and now we will monitor all incoming flights,” said Dr Fahey. “We will continue to press for a speedy, efficient and painless entry into this city which, we are sure, could be accomplished without jeopardising drug detection.” Mr lan Fawcett, Customs’ assistant collector at Christchurch, agreed that the 1% hours taken to clear the flight was outside the one-hour target set under the new system which came into effect on October 1. . Of the 34 flights processed since that date, 26 (or 77 per cent) were within the target. “But we are aware that there have been some delays and we are analysing them,” he said.

Problems on Friday were caused when two passengers who were thought to have been carrying drugs had to be searched. Additional witnesses were needed im-

mediately and officers had to be diverted from the processing desks for that purpose.

One of the suspects was later charged and will appear in court. When the flight arrived all six desks were manned, but after the first suspect was detained, the number was reduced to four. A short time later, a second suspect was detained and two more officers were diverted from the desks.

Mr Fawcett agreed that for about 15 minutes only two of the six desks were manned.

“This delay was the worst we have had under the new system and I regret that it happened,” he said. “We are endeavouring to isolate the problem and hope to find a solution by the end of the month.” Mr Fawcett said the delay on Friday was compounded by the fact that about 200 passengers were not given arrival cards until after they had landed. Some people, he said, were still trying to fill them out at the desks.