UK Customs checks
Discussion
bloomen said:
CarlosSainz100 said:
When it came to aircraft I basically touched nothing.
Was there anyone technical keeping an eye out or did officers leave with the odd bit of landing gear to use as an ashtray?omniflow said:
Not really - it's more a case of you expecting to get through unchallenged because you're tired and you rushed to catch your boat / train. How old are you - 5?
I presume that you understand the need for checks at the border - both intelligence led and random checks? If you don't understand the need for this, then I'm not going to bother explaining it to you, as you probably still wouldn't understand. If you do understand the need for it, why do you think you should have been exempt? For the reasons stated above (tired / rushed), or some other reason?
Officially there was no such thing as a 'random check'. The reality could be quite different; but officially there always has to be a proper reason to stop a person. They were quite strict with that, as they should be. I presume that you understand the need for checks at the border - both intelligence led and random checks? If you don't understand the need for this, then I'm not going to bother explaining it to you, as you probably still wouldn't understand. If you do understand the need for it, why do you think you should have been exempt? For the reasons stated above (tired / rushed), or some other reason?
Note this is for the Customs side of Border Force (the ones that search for stuff). The immigration side are legally bound to scan every passport at the border come hell or high water; either in person or via the e-gates. And woe betide the officer that fails to do this. I know of several very senior members of Border Force that were fired for not checking every single passport. When the queues get too big it's all hands to the pump and all the would be Customs staff get moved onto scanning passports, which obviously means the search for drugs etc gets neglected.
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