Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe and the second busiest in the world, behind only Dubai International. With that huge footfall also comes a large amount of cargo and it is the job of Border Control agents to check through inventories and try to intercept anything that seems suspicious. ITV revealed during their new series of “Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport” how one officer – known only as Glenn – thought he spotted something huge during a routine check.
The narrator revealed in May: “The job of Border Force veteran Glenn is to sift through all items being sent by air and one thing he is looking out for is drugs.
“Glenn has developed a sixth sense for suspicious cargo and this package of personal items has caught his attention.
“Dotted around Heathrow are 22 vast warehouses where over a billion pounds worth of cargo is processed every year.
“Glenn’s shipment has come in from Canada, where cannabis has recently been legalised and he’s worried it could be contributing to the 270 tonnes illegally imported into the UK each year.”
Glenn then went on to explain exactly why this package, in particular, had raised his suspicions.
He said: “I’m looking at this shipment and I’m curious because there’s a large amount of it and that’s a lot of personal steps going over every single day.
“That’s a massive amount.
“You’ve got to be nosey in this job, you won’t be any good if you are not nosey.
“I’m prepared to take a bit of a risk and gamble.”
However, after a thorough search, he uncovered only prayer books, DVDs and shampoo.
Shocked by the discovery, Glenn admitted: “My gut instinct here is this one looks okay.
“It did look good on the paperwork, but it was not what we were hoping for.
“The repacking is now the hard part.
“I’m the one who has to close the suitcase when the kitchen sink has gone in it.”
The same series also showed how firearms officers reacted to “full emergency” situations.
The narrator revealed how every officer in the building is expected to respond.
She details: “RVP means rendezvous point south of the runway.
“A plane has taken off, but it is in trouble, a serious situation has occurred and air traffic control need to halt all aircraft movements.
“While emergency services have been alerted, Heathrow is heading to a complete standstill.
“In the air traffic control tower, emergency protocols have been triggered.
“A plane bound for New York has had to turn around due to a fault with one of the engines.”
The programme then showed the two firearms officers rushing towards the runway before one of them explains the magnitude of the situation.
He says: “Worst case scenario is there’s been a major fault with the plane and there is a fire or something.
“Our role is to preserve life and to assist with any scene that there would be.”
Scores of emergency services wait on the runway, ready to react to any situation they are faced with.
Thankfully, the plane lands without any significant issues, minus some smoke on one of the engines.
