Customs Eagle eyes watch for smuggling

by Leslie Campbell
Northern News Services

NNSL (OCT 30/96) - Sometimes you get the feeling that customs inspectors can read your mind.

Michele Wyatt Senior Customs Officer in Yellowknife, can't read minds but she does know what to look for when questioning people.

Wyatt watches a person's eye contact and scrutinizes their body language while they respond to her questions.

After asking a set of questions, Wyatt decides if the person will have to answer another series of questions.

If Wyatt finds illegal contraband like drugs or guns in luggage or packages she'll make an arrest and seize the goods.

"Some people get annoyed with me when they have to pay duty or I have to confiscate items they didn't declare," she says.

This happens if people get caught trying to sneak an extra carton of cigarettes or bottle of alcohol into the country and not declare it.

Wyatt decides her plan of action after she asks questions like, do you have identification? How much money did you bring? How long are you staying? What items did you purchase?

In Yellowknife Wyatt's job is to keep an eye on goods stored in three bondable warehouses and go on board non-commercial flights to question foreign passengers.

After Wyatt endured 16 weeks of training in Rigaud, Quebec she worked at the border in Sprague, Manitoba.

"The midnight shift was nerve-racking because I was alone all night," she says.

Because of the threat of danger she always carried a radio on her belt. This way she could call the RCMP or the U.S. border patrol - who carry guns, if she needed help.

Wyatt has two other colleagues in the NWT that help her out. One's in Iqaluit and the other is in Inuvik.

She'll be in Yellowknife for two more years and then she may transfer to Winnipeg.