What does a drug importer look like? Government and Opposition MPs could not agree during the House of Assembly debate on the current estimates for the Customs department yesterday.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul remarked that he was never searched when he passed through airports in Europe, but then "I don't fit the profile'' of a drug importer.

"That's the kind of people who usually carry it,'' shouted Shadow Delegated Affairs Minister Mrs. Lois Browne Evans.

Dr. Saul said that was "bunk'', and Bermudian Customs officials used profiles developed by experts when they decided who they would stop.

Drugs still "get through'', so how could the profile be correct? Mrs. Brown Evans replied. Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade also came to her defence.

Whether Customs stopped 10 percent of drugs or 50 percent, a percentage still got into Bermuda, Mr. Wade said.

How would Dr. Saul know "who brings the rest in?'' The profile was "based on what you've caught in the past.

"To eliminate any particular group of person because they don't fit your profile is to demonstrate that you're not approaching it properly.'' Dr. Saul conceded that travellers dressed like models from "Vogue magazine'' were sometimes searched and found with drugs. But he said nearly 70 percent of those pulled aside at the Airport by Customs "rovers'' were found to have narcotics.

Usually, the Customs officers were acting on tips from American authorities, he said.

If a woman, call her "Miss X'', was living in the United States with a known drug dealer, "we are informed when Miss X takes a trip to Bermuda'', Dr. Saul said.

It was "standard practice'' for her to come empty-handed the first time, and bring drugs on her second visit.

After being searched on her first visit, the woman has "likely created mayhem'' in Bermuda, by writing letters to Government and newspaper editors to complain about her treatment.

"It's all part of a standard procedure that you learn in a graduate school run by baddies,'' Dr. Saul said.

And while visitors sometimes complained about being searched at Customs, officials would sometimes have to ruffle innocent people, he said.

The Minister thanked US and Canadian Customs officials who had trained Bermudians on the Island and also taken Bermudians abroad for Customs training.

Shadow Finance Minister Mr. Eugene Cox said Customs appeared to be doing a good job at the Airport, but more steps were needed to intercept drugs coming in by ship. Packages could be dropped out of passing ships and collected by drug dealers in speed boats.