X-Ray Drug Search Tested by Customs

Airline passengers suspected of carrying illegal drugs now get a choice from U.S. Customs agents who want to search them: Submit to a strip search or be taken to a nearby hospital for an X-ray. The Customs Service began testing the X-ray option at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Miami International Airport in October in looking at ways to make such searches less intrusive and less embarrassing for passengers and inspectors. “We are trying to make this unpleasant but necessary part of our jobs less unpleasant,” said U.S. Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly.