Cannabis security test goes awry; random traveller scores stash

[Alinestra Covelia]

Narita airport in Tokyo carried out a cannabis sniffing test with dogs but they didn't find it and the drugs have gone missing. Link.

Cannabis blunder at Tokyo airport

An unwitting passenger arriving at Japan's Narita airport has received 142g of cannabis after a customs test went awry, officials say.

A customs officer hid a package of the banned narcotic in a side pocket of a randomly chosen suitcase in order to test airport security.

Sniffer dogs failed to detect the cannabis and the officer could not remember which bag he had put it in.

Anyone finding the package has been asked to contact customs officials.

"This case was extremely regrettable. I would like to deeply apologise," said Narita International Airport's customs head Manpei Tanaka.

Strict laws

The customs officer conducted the test on a passenger's bag against regulations. Normally a training suitcase is used.

"I knew that using passengers' bags is prohibited, but I did it because I wanted to improve the sniffer dog's ability," the officer was quoted as saying.

"The dogs have always been able to find it before... I became overconfident that it would work," he said.

Japan has strict laws against drugs and possession of small amounts of cannabis can lead to a prison sentence.
Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7419969.stm

Published: 2008/05/26 10:34:00 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

[Omni Rex Draconis]

Hey, Wezil! Instead of Amsterdam, let's go to Japan. I heard they are giving out free samples!

[-Jrabbit]

Partay!

[Krill]

Awesome case of charity

[Sprayber]

One way to increase tourism I suppose.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Omni Rex Draconis
Hey, Wezil! Instead of Amsterdam, let's go to Japan. I heard they are giving out free samples!

Anyone finding the package has been asked to contact customs officials.

[VetLegion]

Makes you wonder what did the person involved have in his bag that threw the dogs off the scent. Perhaps it is better we never find out.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Harold and Kumar go to Japan

[Felch]

142 g is almost exactly 5 oz.

Kind of an odd amount, I'd assume they'd go either in 10s or 50s of grams, or else, at this scale, quarter pounds.

A side note on drug conversions - most American drug dealers think 1 oz. equals 28 g exactly. Since they often use gram scales, this can lead to some innacuracies. 1/4 lb. becomes 112 g instead of 113.4 grams.

I once had a conversation with a friend who was trying to work his way through the conversions. He knew there were 28 grams to an ounce, 16 ounces to a pound, and 2.2 pounds to a kilo. He wound up figuring 986 grams per kilogram.

He never was the brightest bulb.

[Krill]

Originally posted by Felch
142 g is almost exactly 5 oz.

Kind of an odd amount, I'd assume they'd go either in 10s or 50s of grams, or else, at this scale, quarter pounds.

A side note on drug conversions - most American drug dealers think 1 oz. equals 28 g exactly. Since they often use gram scales, this can lead to some innacuracies. 1/4 lb. becomes 112 g instead of 113.4 grams.

I once had a conversation with a friend who was trying to work his way through the conversions. He knew there were 28 grams to an ounce, 16 ounces to a pound, and 2.2 pounds to a kilo. He wound up figuring 986 grams per kilogram.

He never was the brightest bulb.

Awesome anecdote

[Kuciwalker]

[-Jrabbit]

I have an anti-climactic drug-sniffing dog story:

I was returning from Europe, flying out of either Paris or Frankfurt. Airport security in Chicago stopped me in the endless hall leading to customs in the international terminal. They were uniformed and showed their IDs. The said they were training their dogs and wanted my cooperation in testing them. They would put some pot in one of my bags, I would proceed toward customs, the dog would sniff me out, and that would be that.

I agreed. Why, I'll never know.

Actually, it all went as planned. The dog (German shepherd) was stunningly silent. He just herded me -- kept blocking my path, nudging me toward his handler. Pretty cool, actually. I soon found myself separated from the parade of other passengers, beside the wall with the implacable pooch at my side. The handler took my bag, the dog pinpointed the location, the pot was found and extracted. I was thanked for my cooperation and sent on my way.

No reward of any kind. 142g? Heck, I would have been happy with a couple joints...

I later wondered why I was selected as the mule for this project. At that time (6 years ago IIRC), I was sporting a long ponytail. Did they, perhaps, think I was actually carrying? Were they training the dog to profile hippie-looking folks? Guess I'll never know.

[-Jrabbit]

No reward of any kind. 142g? Heck, I would have been happy with a couple joints...

I mean, I was proud to assist the enforcement community in any way I could.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I like how you felt you had to point that out .

[Felch]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit

I mean, I was proud to assist the enforcement community in any way I could.

Traitor