Scrutiny for baggage handlers

Date: 12/05/2005
Source: smh.com.au
Author: Neil McMahon, Joseph Kerr and Matthew Moore

Baggage handlers would be secretly monitored by hidden cameras under a Federal Government push to allay concerns over the involvement of airport staff in drug smuggling.

Staff would also be subject to tighter screening procedures and access to airports would be restricted under proposals put forward last night at a meeting in Canberra of an aviation security group. The Customs Minister, Chris Ellison, summoned the top-level group in the wake of the smashing of a syndicate police say used baggage handlers to smuggle drugs.

Yesterday, the senator had called on the union that represents baggage handlers, the Transport Workers Union, to support increased surveillance.

Earlier, the union's airport organiser, Glenn Nightingale, said the claims involving baggage handlers were distressing for all staff. "They've all been shellshocked. Everyone is being branded a drug trafficker."

The union was not involved in last night's meeting of the aviation group, which was set up in 2003 with representatives of the federal transport and immigration departments, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Federal Police, Customs, and the main airlines.

In a statement yesterday, Qantas's chief executive, Geoff Dixon, said the airline regretted some of its baggage staff were alleged to be involved in drug smuggling. "Despite the actions of a few, we believe our operational and security procedures to be amongst the world's best."

The fresh controversy over airport security came on the eve of another court hearing in Bali for Schapelle Corby, whose defence has claimed she was the victim of a smuggling operation.

An adviser to Corby's legal team, Vasu Rasiah, yesterday attacked the Australian Federal Police commissioner, Mick Keelty, whom he accused of ignoring evidence of airport drug smuggling.

On ABC Radio, Mr Keelty had repeated his view that there was no connection between the international cocaine syndicate and the claims made by Corby's defence of trafficking through domestic airports.

"There is very little intelligence to suggest that baggage handlers are using innocent people to traffic heroin or other drugs between states," Mr Keelty said.

Mr Rasiah told AAP the commissioner's timing was appalling. "Everybody talks about baggage handlers except Mick Keelty. He is just covering for [the] AFP."

A spokesman for the commissioner said the Federal Police had never denied there were criminal baggage handlers. He said Mr Keelty had only pointed to the lack of evidence for the use of innocent drug mules.

In separate remarks, Mr Rasiah told the Herald Corby's legal team would today make a last-ditch attempt to convince the court of her innocence by asking the judges to watch a video tape of Colonel Bambang Sugiarto, the head of the narcotics division of Bali's police.

The defence believes the tape shows him admitting police did only "50 per cent" of the checks they should have done. But a transcript of the interview, broadcast in Indonesia 11 days ago, is inconclusive and the judges might need to accept remarks by the narrator on the videotape to reach the same conclusion as the defence team.

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