The ability to ‘read’ a face is experience, as is dealing with humanity: “In general, when we stop someone, it is part of a larger picture, where we work closely with our customs colleagues in other countries,” he says. “But, certainly, there is an instinctual aspect to the job, seeing someone, for instance, who might be dressed wrongly on a particular flight, or behaving in a certain manner that would trigger the attention. The average person pulled aside for a routine luggage inspection is a very small part of what we do.”
Cigarette smuggling is a major focus of Revenue’s Customs Service: 15% of smokers had an illegal pack in 2011. With cigarette consumption in Ireland for that year at 5.5bn, 15% amounts to 770m illegal cigarettes, and a loss to the exchequer, in excise and VAT, of €258m. Customs officers seized 3m cigarettes in Athenry earlier this year, and 1.2m in Dundalk. A quarter tonne of roll-your-own tobacco, with a retail value of €102,000 and a loss to the Exchequer of €72,000, was discovered in Dublin, concealed in bags purporting to be tea from China. 17,800 cigarettes were discovered in the baggage of a Moldovan national in July, on a flight from Moscow. “There has been a big increase in illegal cigarettes in recent years,” says Mr Sullivan. “It is an ongoing process for the customs service, and, again, one where we work closely with law enforcement agencies in other countries and with the gardaí.”
Drugs are an ongoing battle for customs, backed up by police and enforcement agencies in other countries. Typical of the smaller seizures is a 36-year-old Romanian national caught with a kilo of cannabis resin at Cork Airport after a flight from Spain. He had ingested 80 sealed pellets to avoid detection, and was selected for examination following routine profiling. In the warren of restricted rooms operated by customs officers is the small, tiled bathroom where the apprehended are forced to ‘pass’ ingested drugs. This bathroom is a revelation. In the centre of it sits a small, metal platform complete with toilet seat and stainless-steel bowl. Unlike an ordinary domestic toilet, this has a transparent underside, where human waste can be sifted from wrapped pellets using thick rubber gloves in a space marked ‘recovery chute’.
The culprit is forced to do his or her business upon this functional ‘throne’ — and face the rigours of the law as their crime sits accusingly in the metal bowl. “We wait for nature to take its course, however long that is,” says Mr Sullivan.
Customs have added cash to their watchlist. “Over the past number of years, we have seen a big increase in incidents of individuals attempt to take money out of the country illegally,” says Mr Sullivan.
With more than €10m in cash seized since 2005, criminal gangs smuggling money out of the country use multiple couriers, each carrying amounts just below the legal threshold.
Anything over €6,384 has to be declared, with documentary proof of its legality, so criminals will often send two or more cash couriers on the same flight, in a practice known as ‘smurfing’. “Officers use profiling and risk-analysis techniques to identify the suspicious movements of passengers, as well as working with other agencies to highlight individuals who may be of interest in this regard.”
For customs officers, no two days are the same. The latest technology is blended with keen instincts honed by years of experience. It is challenging work, Mr Sullivan says, and a job where comradeship and collaboration are the bywords for the monitoring and apprehension of criminal activity. “The downside is the fact that it is certainly not a 9-to-5 kind of life, and, indeed, one where many a family gathering or domestic occasion has to be interrupted because a situation has come up,” he says. “It is a job where an understanding of human nature, and a good eye for spotting the subtle things, are definite advantages.”
A NOSE FOR TROUBLE
Backing up the human resources at Cork Airport Customs are Max (below) and Harvey, a pair of clever Springer Spaniels.
Capable of sniffing out drugs, explosives, tobacco and other contraband, they are a constant presence for their handlers, Olivia O’Connor and Eddie Fitzpatrick. “Harvey is a specialist in finding cigarettes and cash,” says Olivia. “He has been trained to scent the paper and the print used on banknotes, which is an aspect of our job that has increased a substantial amount over recent years. At one time, it was only drugs, but now the dogs help us in a variety of ways.”
Trained in the UK and brought to Ireland by their instructor, the first few weeks of life as a customs dog is spent bonding with the handlers. “The handler and dog develop a very close relationship,” says Eddie. “They are effectively ours, from day one, in everything from their feeding to general care and welfare — that is our top priority. If you’re on holidays, so is your dog — the bond is that close.” The dogs live with their handlers. “Harvey and Max have very different personalities. One is much more placid than the other, a combination that is very effective in their individual ways of working.”
With a training so specialised that Harvey can distinguish between a large amount of hidden cash and the contents of the average wallet heading to Lanzarote for a two-week holiday, the dogs are constantly educated about the ever-more devious ways criminals evade detection.
John Daly Irish Examiner
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