article_snippet.sent: (Constable £8.99) Stopped by Customs officers
article_snippet.sent: By and large, the Customs officers would sooner
article_snippet.sent: Contraband is destroyed, valuables handed to the Crown and booze poured away.
article_snippet.sent: And it is also not unknown for stowaways in the hold to be crushed by the retracting undercarriage — and to drop onto the runway at Stansted several hours later as a block of ice.
article_snippet.sent: No wonder, to ease the tension, Customs officers play wicked pranks on each other.
article_snippet.sent: Otherwise, you can come back from Tenerife and your luggage will have been replaced on the carousel with concrete blocks.
article_snippet.sent: The Customs Investigation Division, which follows international drugs cartels and involves ‘info gathering and smuggling ops’, is based in a Georgian building near Tower Bridge, built in the days of old-fashioned pirates and ships flying the Jolly Roger flag.