Pubdate: Mon, 01 Nov 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press Author: Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press CUSTOMS TIGHTENS RULES ON HOLDING DRUG SUSPECTS The Customs Service, amid allegations of abusive drug searches, said Monday it will seek legal advice from U.S. attorneys whenever it wants to hold an airline passenger for more than eight hours. The new policy marks the latest effort by Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly to change how the agency checks passengers for drugs. It revises a proposal for setting up an outside review process that Kelly announced in August. "While we are committed to making the customs clearance experience as expeditious and as pleasant as possible for the traveling public, we are continuing our strong enforcement posture to protect the citizens of this country against contraband of all types,'' Kelly said. The searches are intended to catch smugglers who hide cocaine or heroin inside their clothes or who swallow drug packets. The searches usually begin with a pat-down and, with reasonable suspicion, can proceed to a partial or full strip search, an X-ray or a monitored bowel movement. In general, customs officials can detain passengers for long periods of time without court approval. Under the change effective Monday, U.S. attorneys "will become involved in reviewing passenger detentions at any point in the process, but no later than eight hours from when the search began,'' the Customs Service said in a release announcing the change. This is how the service described the new procedure: If the U.S. attorney does not believe "reasonable suspicion'' exists to continue holding a passenger, then the person will be released. In a case with "probable cause'' that a crime has been committed, however, the U.S. attorney can seek an arrest warrant from a magistrate. And where probable cause doesn't exist, but there is reasonable suspicion to continue the search, "Customs will decide how best to proceed with the search.'' Under the plan announced in August, the service proposed seeking approval from a federal magistrate any time it wanted to hold an airline passenger for more than four hours. Customs would have had to convince a federal magistrate that it had "reasonable suspicion'' for continuing to keep the passenger in custody. At the time, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed misgivings that the reasonable suspicion standard was too easy for law enforcement to satisfy. It preferred the tougher "probable cause'' standard. A message was left for the ACLU to comment on the latest change. A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Justice Department had some concerns with custom's earlier proposal. The new policy reflects negotiations between the two law enforcement agencies, the official said. Kelly, who took over the Customs Service last year, has acted repeatedly to respond to the criticism over its searches. Customs is facing numerous lawsuits from people alleging they were singled out for body searches because of their race or sex. The allegations first were reported by The Associated Press in December. In May, the service changed its policy so a person detained for at least two hours could make a telephone call. The agency also has clarified criteria for conducting searches, is retraining officers, has tightened the approval process for personal searches and pledged to help passengers whose travel plans were disrupted if they were detained but found not to have smuggled drugs An independent panel has been looking at complaints of racial bias by customs inspectors involving personal searches and is expected to report its findings before the end of the year. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake