New Customs boss Frank Ferguson today dismissed claims that known drug smugglers were walking unchallenged through Leeds -Bradford Airport.

And he warned criminals tempted to smuggle drugs, bootleg cigarettes and child pornography into the county that a new intelligence team covering the West Yorkshire area are now 'more professional than they have ever been'.

"You will never catch them all - and I wouldn't pretend we are 'fortress Leeds-Bradford Air-port' - but we have more tools at our disposal now. We are in the computer age and we are more professional than we have ever been," he said.

Mr Ferguson has just taken over charge of a new, remodelled intelligence unit. For the first time, Customs intelligence officers spread across different departments have been brought together in one team.

The team's job will be to gather information on people engaged in drugs, pornography, and arms smuggling as well as contraband cigarettes and tobacco.

Claims by the Public and Commercial Services union, reported in the Telegraph & Argus last week, that half of the posts in some key departments were vacant were misleading, Mr Ferguson said. It was true that there were fewer officials on the ground now than a few years ago, but that was because the nature of the Customs service was changing due to a relaxation in EU border controls and the development of new technology.

"There are new ways of committing old crimes today - for example child pornography on the Internet," Mr Ferguson said. "We in the Customs & Excise have got to wake up to the 21st century. Criminals are very ingenious, the world is now a global village and communications are better."

He said members of the public could be reassured that Leeds-Bradford Airport was not a major route into the country for hard drugs.

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