Border staff ignore drugs: Guidelines tell workers to not arrest passengers caught carrying cannabis

Guidelines say those with 'personal use' quantities should not be arrested

Thought to apply to amphetamines and mephedrone also

Campaigners say ministers have 'given up' on drug enforcement laws



Border officials have been told not to arrest passengers caught with cannabis in their luggage, a report revealed last night.

Official guidance to customs staff tells them not to arrest anyone with ‘personal use’ quantities of Class B drugs.

The rules are also thought to also apply to other drugs in that category, including amphetamines and mephedrone.

Staff at UK borders have been told not to arrest anyone with 'personal use' amounts of class B drugs (library image)

Drugs campaigners said the incident suggested ministers had ‘given up’ on enforcing drugs laws.

Mary Brett, from Cannabis Skunk Sense said: ‘This is extraordinary. Why do we bother to have laws on cannabis if they’re not going to be enforced?

‘What message does it send when people aren’t stopped with illegal drugs? We seem to have given up entirely on cannabis, and made it de-facto decriminalised.’

Details of the Border Force edict emerged in an official immigration inspectors report in to Stansted Airport.

A passenger was arrested after customs officials found cannabis in his baggage - but then let him go, the report said.

Astonishingly, the report suggested he was ‘de-arrested’ because officials concluded he was high on drugs at the time.

The report states: ‘The passenger was initially detained under immigration powers in the immigration detention suite, but was subsequently found to have a small quantity (for personal use) of what was believed to be cannabis in their baggage.

‘[He] was subsequently de-arrested and released due to a Border Force perception that they were under the influence of controlled drugs.’

The Chief Inspector commented on the incident: ‘The passenger was arrested despite previously issued guidance stating that arrests for ‘personal use’ quantities of Class B drugs were not to be undertaken (unless there were extenuating circumstances, which there were not in this case).’

‘The passenger was ‘de-arrested’ and released, even though they had been found in possession of prohibited drugs, and were perceived to be ‘under the influence’ of them.’

As well as cannabis (pictured) those with small amounts of amphetamines and mephedrone will not be arrested by staff

The incident was detailed in a report by Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration John Vine. Two years ago similar report by Mr Vine revealed passengers who come in to Gatwick with cannabis were having the drugs confiscated and then being sent on their way without even a fine or other legal sanction.

Instead customs staff were giving out oral warnings.

At the time, Home Office officials insisted that anyone caught with Class B drugs in their luggage should be arrested on the spot.

The Stansted report also revealed that illicit goods could be being smuggled in in vast quantities through the airport because of an ‘almost total absence’ of customs staff at the country’s fourth biggest airport.

Mr Vine said he was ‘surprised’ to find little visible Border Force presence in customs during the inspection visit last year.

Staff were often hauled out of customs channels to man immigration and passport checks, the report found.

This meant ‘insufficient resources were allocated to customs functions’ the report found.

Mr Vine said: ‘I was surprised to find so little visible Border Force presence in the customs channels.

‘These resources are important both to detect smugglers and provide a deterrent to others.

The airport missed its target for Class A drugs seizures last year and the report found no heroin has been seized since July 2012.

The report also found that passengers could enter the airport and buy duty-free cigarettes or tobacco but then leave the airport without travelling abroad.

The weakness in the controls was as a result of the layout of the airport’s domestic and international facilities.

Airport staff became suspicious when one passenger made repeat purchases of duty-free goods on the same day.

Immigration minister Mark Harper said: ‘We have accepted all the recommendations in the inspection report and many of the issues raised have already been addressed.

‘Since we split Border Force from UKBA, it has been making significant improvements in its performance - security has been strengthened and excessive queues are gone.



‘This extends to both passengers and goods and is underpinned, for the first time, by a clear operating mandate set by ministers.

