In March SoFA members attended the Speaker Meeting at Christ Church, Southport which was given by Brian Topping.
Mr Topping has had a long and varied career in the Customs Office. In the 1970’s and 1980’s he was a Customs officer in the former Department of H M Customs and Excise at Heathrow. He clarified that at that time a Customs Officer was not primarily responsible for security but for taxation for the Revenue Service.
He recounted numerous instances which involved people from many different parts of the world, for example, an Irish man who had a ‘bottle of water’ which was in fact Poitín/Poteen (an Illicit Irish spirit) which was forfeited!
A Customs Officer needs to be observant, as in the case where a mother’s children were running around in the Green Channel area and she offered a key to the officer which did not open her Delsy suitcase. Eventually the case was opened and was found to contain 16 kilos of Heroin. She The woman served nine years, her accomplice was given seven years, and the mastermind received 10 years in prison.
A Customs Officer must learn how the airline industry works and to be able to read body language. For example, if this was unusual the passenger was likely to be guilty of smuggling something in their suitcase or on their person.
Mr Topping could have given us many more examples, however instead told us he will reveal more in his next talk, Talk Two.
He was a most entertaining and enlightening speaker.
By Vikki Fahey
If you are interested in attending one of our Speaker Meetings or joining SoFA please contact us using our Contact Form.