the way they were treated during an airport drugs search last week.

Norman and Estella Jackson told The Royal Gazette they were stopped and searched on April 27 by plain-clothes Police and Customs narcotics officers and were pressured to come clean about smuggling drugs.

After a super-sensitive Ion scanning machine registered a positive result for heroin on Mr. Jackson's garment bag, he consented to an X-ray test at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

But he did so only after pressure from an officer who said that if he refused, he would sit in a Police cell until his scheduled four-day trip was effectively over.

The couple have contacted a lawyer to see what recourse they have and contact Police Commissioner Jean Jacques Lemay.

"It doesn't matter where you come from or what you do, when you come to Bermuda you should be treated well,'' he said. "I work and I own my own business.'' Mrs. Jackson said the couple passed through Immigration and were stopped by two Customs officers, one of whom was female.

"She said I looked nervous,'' said Mrs. Jackson. "I've been to many countries in the Caribbean. I have never been treated this way.'' The couple were separated and subjected to searches of their luggage and person for contraband.

"They wiped and tested everything,'' Mrs. Jackson continued. "They found nothing. And then they asked how much did the trip cost. I said `American Express'. I have nothing to hide.'' Things were not going well for Mr. Jackson, as he was found to have heroin on his luggage by the service's new Ion Scan machine.

"I saw my husband in handcuffs,'' Mrs. Jackson said. "They wanted to take him to the hospital to see if he had swallowed anything.'' Mr. Jackson said he only consented to the X-ray scan because officers had told him they would hold him for three days, the legal maximum.

That made the pressure on him too great, and he was taken to KEMH.

The Jacksons found it ironic that another American man was also at the hospital being X-rayed while under suspicion of having drugs but he was not handcuffed. The man was white.

"They told me that `he (Mr. Jackson) looks like an athletic guy' and so he might run,'' Mrs. Jackson said. "Where the hell is he going to run? We don't know anyone here. That's when I got mad at them!'' "We are not criminals,'' Mr. Jackson continued. "I work in a nursing home and we have a restaurant in the Bronx.

"I got this suitcase recently and used it once to go to Sunfest in Jamaica. I don't do drugs and I didn't make that suitcase. Of course I looked suspicious, I was scared. My hands were shaking! I have never been handcuffed in my life.

I was just hoping that nothing happened to me there.'' He continued: "They just kept repeating and insisting that I had something.

I'm only glad that my sister, who is a lawyer in New York, did not give me a phone number of a client who lives here. I would still be there.'' Mrs. Jackson interjected: "And just like that it was over. No apology, no sorry, nothing. We paid more than $2,000 to come here and it is ruined. We will never come back.'' The couple reiterated that they did not have a problem with being searched, but what rankled them was the lack of an apology from the narcotics officers.

"After they ruined my first day and found absolutely nothing on me there was no apology,'' Mr. Jackson said. "Nothing. I asked them what happens when they are wrong. An Inspector Smith then said they would say thanks for cooperating but that didn't even happen.'' He added: "I only signed to be X-rayed to get out and go to my hotel room.

That's all. I just want to go home.'' Both a Police spokeswoman and Collector of Customs Bill LeDrew would not speak about Mr. Jackson's complaints, but they did affirm there is a procedure to be followed -- even for people who have been found doing nothing wrong.

Mr. LeDrew said: "I have seen the report, as I see reports from every search.

They are done under a very clear policy and a positive result from the Ion scan machine is a factor for determining further searches.

He said while being searched is "not a pleasant experience'' the realities of the drug war dictate that some people who are not offenders would continue to be searched.

"We can't promise that it won't happen,'' Mr. LeDrew said. "It is a part of Bermuda's zero tolerance on drugs policy.

"When there is no result, we can expect that a person would be thanked for their cooperation. We apologise for the inconvenience, but we don't apologise for the search.

"We explain that it is our job and why we do it and offer our regrets for doing our job,'' Mr. LeDrew added. "That's the bottom line. There is protection for unreasonable searches. And we don't select people on the basis of race or religion.'' He said the Ion scan machine can find trace amounts of drugs that a person may have inadvertently come into contact with, adding: "I'd rather not comment on Mr. Jackson's case. I can't say what it was that the officers saw.

"If he feels that he was treated unfairly, he should submit a complaint and we would conduct an inquiry. I haven't seen anything come through at this stage.'' TOURIST TOU CUSTOMS CUS