Re: [ATM] Thieves OT, but still

[Dominic-Luc Webb <dlwebb@canit.se>]

> On the other side of the coin, I've often wondered what would happen
> if I were to be pulled over while there was a box full of aluminum
> oxide, cerium oxide,


It wouldn't get far with law enforcement. These would immediately
fail usual tests to see if they were organic. Usual chromatographs,
on-site rapid assays, etc would all fail. Properly trained law
enforcement (as opposed to Hollywood actor playing a cop) never ever
tastes or inhales suspect compounds.

I have heard long ago of someone actually having some difficulties
with the police because the aluminum oxide was found together with
a flat piece of glass and a small spoon, and this combination could look
quite suspicious to a policeman who spends his day seeking (and
finding) bonified drug addicts and is not familiar with ATMing. I have
a friend who is type 1 diabetic and I have seen aluminum oxide in
close proximity to his insulin needles. I warned him about the
suspicious appearance, but he did not seem too concerned because
he has had to deal with such problems before, like with shopping
mall security that searched him after his credit card, etc
set off an alarm. In this case, he had to wait for the police to show
up to explain to them why he had needles before he could continue on
his way.

That being said, my longest holdup at an airport was not due to
the potentially explosive chemicals and electronic devices and
batteries I had, which I later realized could have been combined to make
a powerful explosive, but rather, the authorities were deeply concerned
about the 12" Mak corrector plate sitting next to these items.
They interrogated the glass, called in several bomb experts (no
kidding) to examine the glass and finally came to conclusion it
was really just a piece of glass. I was amazed that the bomb
experts did not show any interest whatsoever in the other items
standing right in front of their faces and next to the glass. They
had a dog that kept sniffing and sitting down in front of my baggage
and later said the dog was misbehaving and should not show any
interest in a peice of glass. I think the dog was working just
fine, but it is not appropriate to state publically what the
substance was, as it is readily obtainable and not usually under
law enforcement scrutiny.

Moral of story: you won't likely ever end up in jail, but a
little strategic thinking about the appearance you project might
save you time.

Dominic-Luc Webb

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