Customs creates intelligence team
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III Customs and Excise says the risk of innocent drivers being jailed for smuggling drugs should be reduced following the creation of a national investigation service.
From next April the department's 14 regional investigation units tackling drug smuggling will be merged into a single service which will have 200 extra staff devoted to intelligence and investigation work.
Senior customs officers believe that an integrated service will enable them to develop better intelligence leads to identify the people behind smuggling and "separate innocent drivers from those who become knowingly involved in this wicked trade".
Pressure group Fair Trials Abroad and the United Road Transport Union (URTL) are fighting for dozens of drivers who they believe have been wrongly charged with drug smuggling in the past two years.
A "memorandum of understanding" drawn up by the URTU is being considered by customs. This would encourage drivers to co-operate in the fight against drug smuggling and give customs officers a better appreciation of the problems facing drivers.
Lawyer Stephen Jakobi of Fair Trials Abroad says: "The driver who notices something suspicious is the biggest asset customs have got but, at the moment, customs has not got the confidence of drivers."