Giant X-ray used in drugs search

[emad]

For all those in need of a new gadget to look for those awesome WMDs......

From BBC News:

A 7ft-tall X-ray machine was used for the first time by police who arrested 35 people during a raid on two pubs in north-west London.
More than 400 officers took part in the operation to scan suspects for drugs and weapons in Harlesden High Street. Equipment was brought in on articulated lorries on Friday night, and suspects had the choice of being strip-searched or scanned.

It shows up anything hidden under the clothes, including metal, plastic or ceramic guns, wooden clubs and coshes, explosives or drugs. Scotland Yard said the arrests were for offences which included possession with intent to supply drugs, possession of an offensive weapon, handling stolen goods and immigration offences. The Office of Communications also closed down a pirate radio station operating in the targeted area. The £120,000, 500kg X-ray device was part of a 160-metre convoy of vehicles which took over the high street.

The scanner - which sees through clothes - has been hailed a success
The operation began at 2140 GMT as officers raided the Elm Tree and the Palm Shade pubs, where there were about 200 people. Ch Supt Andy Bamber, commander of the London Borough of Brent, said drug dealing in the area was almost like a "cottage industry" with people dealing and smoking openly. "People can't get into their houses," he said. "Our experience has shown that the community fully support this type of action."

Mr Bamber said the "vast majority" of people had chosen to stand in front of the machine, which takes just a few seconds. "The machine has been a fantastic success," he said. Police say the radiation used by the machine is 1,500 times less than a normal chest X-ray, or the equivalent of standing in the sun for 40 minutes. Supt Malcolm Baker, involved in the use of the X-ray scanner, said: "It has the ability to see through their clothing and produce an image of anything they have hidden under their clothing or in their pockets. "It's very graphic and it doesn't leave much to the imagination."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3573933.stm

So next time you want to stash a spliff inside your Wonderbra when out clubbing in North London's Harlesden High Street, think again. The cops can see inside your undies....

[Narf]

1. Big brother is indeed watching you!

Were these people searched because the police had reason to suspect they were in possession of illegal items or were they merely searched because they were walking down the street or attempting to enter a pub? What happened to the people who refused to be searched? WTF is happening in the UK when the police are free to search anyone at random?

[emad]

4. It's called the Sus Law: arrest 'on suspicion of being a suspicious

person' etc....

Probably just an excuse to see what kinds of underwear women are wearing when out clubbing on a Friday night...

[mobuto]

2. They're only now getting to this?

These have been around for years!

[madrchsod]

3. orwell was right about

england. the most "watched" people on the earth.

[megatherium]

5. I thought this article would be about

using x-rays (such as are produced by the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory) to determine the structure of proteins, as part of rational drug design.

But I was mistaken.