RAWALPINDI: Random checks will be conducted at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) after the new body scanner, which conducts full body scans in under a few seconds, became functional on Friday during a simple ceremony.

“Not all passengers will be asked to go through the scanner. Only those thought to be acting suspiciously will be asked to walk through the machine,” said a spokesperson for the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

He said that two attempts of smuggling drugs out of the country had already been foiled due to scanning via the machine.

The machine was inaugurated during a simple ceremony which was attended by Narcotics Control Division Secretary Ajaz Ali Khan, ANF DG Maj Gen Nasir Dilawar Shah, DLO Saudi Arabia Fawaz Said Alotaibi, ANF COS Brig Mohammad Basharat Tahir Malik, ANF Commander North Brig Hammad Dogar, Airport Manager Amam Ullah Alvi, Senior Joint Director Civil Aviation Authority Naeem Ahmed Khan and representatives of other concerned agencies.

Speaking at the inauguration, the NCD secretary said the machines will help ensure “clean travel” from Pakistan to other destinations.

The DG ANF appreciated the ANF’s arrangements for training airport staff in operating the machines.

He said that during the training, two cases of capsule ingestion were detected and cases registered in this regard.

The scanning machines were manufactured by a British Company, Braun, and were donated by Saudi Arabia.

They were installed at three major airports last week, including BBIA, Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore and the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi and they were all made functional on Friday.

The ANF spokesperson said that the machine only takes seven seconds to scan a passenger, though a little more time is required for registering passenger data. The machine gives a view of the whole body and also of the abdomen at the same time.

The body scanners resemble walk through gates and make the detection of drugs easier, be they ingested or concealed in clothing, and they do not infringe on the privacy of those asked to walk through them.

Published in Dawn October 8th, 2016