Just my random thoughts...
One presumes that all passengers boarding the flight along with their bags would have gone through some form of standardised screening to cross from landside to airside. This would have likely picked up some offending items ?
Furthermore, assuming all passengers' hand luggage is screened in close proximity to the passengers when going through security, it would be fairly easy to match anything naughty to the passenger involved, if necessary by reference to a CCTV recording of said passenger in the screening area.
I'm therefore a little puzzled as to how strict procedures should be in the example you mentioned - perhaps you could clarify ?
Furthermore, how long for example would other passengers tolerate being delayed by security checks before they too also decided to abandon their trip ?
Yes, you could make the overall security process more strict and remove the capacity to smuggle even small amounts of drugs, but what is the aim of the security process, and how invasive a screening process will the general population accept if it is to be applied to everyone rather than just those of special interest ? As an absolute extreme, if all passengers had to undergo a body cavity search to enter an airport, would foreign tourists / businesspeople still choose to visit us ?
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 11th Nov 2013 at 05:55.