A long-range locator is a class of fraudulent devices purported to be a type of metal detector , supposedly able to detect a variety of substances, including gold, drugs and explosives; most are said to operate on a principle of resonance with the material being detected.
163-440: The GT200 is a fraudulent " remote substance detector " that was claimed by its manufacturer, UK-based Global Technical Ltd, to be able to detect, from a distance, various substances including explosives and drugs. The GT200 was sold to a number of countries for a cost of up to £22,000 per unit, but the device has been described as little more than " divining rods " which lack any scientific explanation for why they should work. After
326-563: A private limited company on 9 January 1997 with Gary Bolton as director. A number of overseas partners including Segtec, Napco, Nikunj Eximp Enterprises, Electronic K9 Singapore, Aviasatcom and Concord Consulting have distributed its products in Central America, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and Thailand respectively. Global Technical also had a sister company, Global Technical Training Services Ltd (registered company 03793910), which
489-417: A resonant frequency principle where the device is said to emit an electromagnetic signal, either through an antenna or a probe, that will respond to a specific substance such as gold, silver, or sometimes even paper money, and that the device will indicate the presence of such material by indicating a change in direction relative to the operator. This theory of operation is not supported by scientific theory;
652-671: A Belgian drug squad, a Hong Kong correctional facility and the Chittagong navy." The police in the Belgian municipal region of Geel - Laakdal - Meerhout used the device to detect drugs. Pakistan's Airport Security Force also used the ADE 651 as a bomb detector at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi . The use of the ADE 651 prompted strong criticism, and eventually led to a ban on
815-513: A bus where a kilogramme of marijuana was found. The judge argued that the GT200 provided no credible evidence, as there is no scientific proof that it actually works. On 21 October 2011, double blind tests were finally performed in México to assess the efficacy of the GT200 detector. The results of this test were to be presented as a proof in an ongoing judicial process. Although the judge has not yet resolved
978-408: A cemetery." He used a set of pliers, a radio antenna and a piece of paper to produce a "bomb detector" that he said worked just as effectively as the GT200. The House committee on national security said that it would investigate the GT200 further and set up an inquiry into its effectiveness that would involve the military and scientists. Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam told journalists after
1141-571: A company based in Kettering , Northamptonshire, and Prosec of Baabda , Lebanon. The device has been sold to 20 countries in the Middle East and Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan, for as much as US$ 60,000 each. The Iraqi government is said to have spent £52 million on the devices. It was widely used by the Iraqi Police Service and the Iraqi Army . The Iraqi Interior Ministry bought 800 of
1304-454: A cost of 286,000 pesos (US$ 22,000) each. According to the government of Guanajuato state, the federal government has bought more than 700 GT200s. State governments have also bought their own GT200s; the device is reported to be in use by police in the Mexican states of Tabasco , Sonora , Sinaloa , Durango , Michoacán and Baja California . The Mexican military also utilises the GT200. In 2008
1467-533: A critical point of view, but science populariser Martin Bonfil Olivera wrote on 17 February 2010 the first article warning about this scam. However, the impact of this article (and the next on 10 March 2010,) on the rest of the press was almost imperceptible, with only Fausto Ovalle from La-Ch.com writing about it. Only after Marc Lacey from The New York Times wrote on 15 March 2010 about the British government warning on
1630-470: A fake, a scam, a swindle, and a blatant fraud. Prove me wrong and take the million dollars." According to Randi, nobody from ATSC ever responded. The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that the ADE 651 had been tested around 2008 in Israel but was "kicked out of the country". An Israeli explosives expert told the magazine: "The thing has absolutely nothing to do with the detection of explosives". When it
1793-509: A false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent individuals. — Judge Mr. Richard Hone on sentencing McCormick to ten years in prison British and American military officers in Iraq brought the ADE 651's ineffectiveness to the attention of British police liaison officers in the country. The matter subsequently came to the notice of Colin Port,
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#17328518820841956-449: A false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent individuals." The judge noted that McCormick had not expressed any remorse or recognition of wrongdoing and said that his "culpability as a fraudster has to be placed in the highest category." Brigadier Simon Marriner told the court that the ADE 651 was clearly implicated in failing to prevent bomb attacks: "The inescapable conclusion
2119-411: A fatal bomb attack in southern Thailand on 6 October 2009 that the police had failed to detect the bomb "because the officer handling the GT200 detector was too nervous... His nervousness caused his temperature to rise which, in turn, caused the bomb detector to malfunction." He announced that in future two officers would be assigned to use the device, with the second ready to take over from the first if he
2282-455: A few moments to "charge" it before holding it at right angles to the body. After a substance-specific "programmed substance detection card" is inserted, the device is supposed to swivel in the user's hand to point its antenna in the direction of the target substance. The cards are claimed to be designed to "tune into" the "frequency" of a particular explosive or other substance named on the card. Husam Muhammad, an Iraqi police officer and user of
2445-400: A few sticks of dynamite from a security officer, who is a longtime friend. He wrapped the dynamite with tin foil and black carbon paper and drove back to the same location. Mr Surapan parked his car on the roadside about a metre behind a car belonging to one of the officers. Then he placed the wrapped dynamite sticks under the bonnet of his car. All four GT200 devices indicated nothing unusual as
2608-449: A former national security aide in the Clinton and Bush administrations, condemned the device as "laughable, except someone down the street from you is counting on this to keep bombs off the streets". An Iraqi guard and driver for The New York Times , both of whom were licensed to carry firearms, were able to drive two AK-47 rifles and ammunition through nine police checkpoints that were using
2771-415: A hinge to a plastic handgrip, into which "sensor cards" can be inserted. It requires no battery or other power source and is said to be powered solely by the user's static electricity. The device becomes active when the operator starts moving and detects various substances via "DIA/PARA magnetism". It is made by Global Technical Ltd of Ashford, Kent . The company (registered number 03300333) was established as
2934-574: A jury failed to convict them. The company's secretary, Malcolm Stig Roe, moved to the United Kingdom after jumping bail and set up two new companies to sell fake detection devices. Some of the distribution agents broke away and began producing their own copies of the Quadro Tracker, such as the Alpha 6, Mole Programmable Substance Detector, Sniffex and GT200. The increase in security spending that followed
3097-422: A large abandoned ballroom. In a first stage the substances were hidden in plain view of all the participants and the GT200 was 100% successful (four successes in four tries). However, the second stage was double blind, and only three searches succeeded out of twenty tries, a result consistent with chance but not with any useful effectiveness. Thus, it was demonstrated that the GT200 yields reliable results only when
3260-582: A means of ensuring the safety of any personnel." Caroline Hawley and Meirion Jones from the BBC 's Newsnight programme investigated the ADE 651 in a report broadcast in January 2010, asking the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory to assess one of the "programmed substance detection cards" used in the device to detect TNT. The laboratory found that the card contained only a standard radio frequency ID tag of
3423-547: A plastic bag with vegetable oil inside. Thai journalist Charoon Thongnual reported personally experiencing the GT200 showing false positives: A device used by a defence volunteer pointed repeatedly to a motorcycle parked in front of the Pattani Provincial Court. However, a search of the motorbike discovered nothing illegal. In another incident, a device pointed at a handbag carried by a female college student in Pattani who
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#17328518820843586-499: A professional, I would say that is an empty plastic case." Gary Bolton of Global Technical said that the lack of any electronic parts "does not mean it does not operate to the specification." A GT200 unit was examined on Thailand's Nation Channel in an interview with Lt Col Somchai Chalermsuksan of the Thai Central Institute of Forensic Science. The host commented that "there is no battery here or way of powering it" and that
3749-723: A reader. The MOLE was tested in the United States in 2002 by Sandia National Laboratories but was found to perform no better than random chance. According to the Sandia report, the MOLE appears "physically nearly identical" to a product Sandia examined in October 1995 called the Quadro Tracker , which was marketed by a South Carolina company but which was banned in 1996 and the makers prosecuted for fraud. A BBC Newsnight television investigation of
3912-554: A reduction of bombing activities to less than 10 per cent of what it was." A senior ministry official, Assistant Deputy Minister General Tareq al-Asl, told Asharq Al-Awsat : "The reason the director of the company was arrested was not because the device doesn't work, but because he refused to divulge the secret of how it works to the British authorities, and the Americans before them. I have tested it in practice and it works effectively and 100% reliably." In February 2011, General al-Jabiri
4075-463: A resolution to the main assembly of the Senate in order to audit the armed forces and demand a scientific test of their equipment. On 3 October 2011, Karla Macías Lovera, a judge in the state of Veracruz, took a historic decision, ordering the release of Ernesto Cayetano Aguilar, a man that had been accused of carrying drugs eight months back, when he was singled out by the GT200 from among the passengers of
4238-449: A review of 13 government agencies' procurement of the GT200, stated that the buyers had been deceived by the device's manufacturer. The DSI's chief, Tarit Pengdith, told a press conference that the manufacturer had "set out to lure potential buyers into buying its devices from the beginning". He said that the government agencies were now considering prosecuting the GT200's manufacturer and resellers for fraud. As of 2018, fourteen years after
4401-442: A scan with a GT200 had returned negative results for explosives. False positives have also been reported, with civilians being arrested after a GT200 "detected" traces of explosives on them. Similar erroneous readings were reported to have caused "pandemonium" at Pattani Hospital. On one occasion the device was reported to have "incriminated the top of a coconut tree", though it was said the alert turned out to have been triggered by
4564-417: A statement saying that it was "surprised and disappointed" by the outcome of the tests. It claimed that the results were "completely at odds with other tests carried out by independent bodies" and with "the experience of the large number of users of this product all over the world." Despite the outcome of the tests, Thai Army chief General Anupong Paojinda said that he would not order his soldiers to stop using
4727-545: A substitute, though the Army would be sending proven alternatives such as sniffer dogs to assist the troops. Pornthip Rojanasunand of the Central Institute of Forensic Science said that although she knew it was "not scientific equipment", she believed that forensic scientists could still use it effectively: "We won't buy more, but we won't stop using them either." Global Technical rejected the tests' conclusions. The company issued
4890-405: A swiveling antenna attached to a plastic grip and requires charging by a user's static electricity. Users would insert "programmed substance detection cards" to supposedly detect specific substances, which were claimed to absorb the vapors of those substances. However, investigations revealed that the product was incapable of detecting anything, essentially being a dowsing rod . The widespread use of
5053-413: A weak signal with a function generator or a simple timer circuit, but are still largely useless in comparison with a coil-based metal detector; others have been found to contain intentionally obfuscated or completely superfluous components (from individual components such as inductors or ribbon cables up to, in some cases, pocket calculators ), often indicative of intentional fraud, incompetence, or both, by
GT200 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5216-513: A year later after it was investigated by Sandia National Laboratories on behalf of the US National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center , and was found to be useless. McCormick responded to this setback by copying Quadro's Golfinder, sticking an ATSC label onto it, renaming it the ADE (Advanced Detection Equipment) 100, and marketing it as a bomb detector. Between 2005 and 2009 he produced and sold several iterations of
5379-512: Is buying". In Mexico, the Government of Colima bought an ADE 651 for more than $ 60,000. Also, in the photography accompanying an article about the GT200 published in newspaper La-Ch.com, a Mexican soldier can be seen using an ADE 651. It is possible that the Secretariat of National Defense also bought some units. According to a promotional website for the ADE 651, the device was also used by
5542-408: Is clear that both civilians and armed forces personnel were put at significant risk in relying upon this equipment. McCormick showed a complete disregard for the safety of those that used and relied upon the device for their own security and protection. He amassed many millions of pounds through his greed and criminal enterprise. It was disclosed that McCormick had made millions of pounds from sales of
5705-509: Is common during security sweeps in the south to see Muslim men lined up on the roadside with their shirts off while being screened by a GT200. Many of those implicated by the GT200 have been arrested and then tortured." The Working Group on Justice for Peace, a Thai non-governmental human rights organisation, published an article in November 2009 that was strongly critical of the GT200: "The operation of
5868-417: Is equivalent to random chance." Following the test results, he ordered security forces to stop buying the devices and review the use of those already in service. He said that the government would consider suing the GT200's manufacturer, Global Technical, and its Thai distributor Avia Satcom Co. An Army spokesman said that units on the ground would have discretion to continue using the GT200 unless they could find
6031-543: Is morally bankrupt. How could he sell them just for money and destroy other people's lives?" Fake bomb detectors such as the ADE 651 were still in use in Iraq as late as July 2016, and may have contributed to the July 2016 Baghdad bombings . This led to Iraq's Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi , to order police to stop using the detectors. Pakistan purchased ADE 651s for use by the Airports Security Force (ASF). After
6194-435: Is no point in having checkpoints. It makes the whole of Baghdad open to terrorist attacks. We are in a dangerous situation and there could be new bombings at any time. We must investigate exactly who bought and sold these detectors and see that they answer in court." The Supreme Board of Audit in Iraq announced an investigation into the procurement of the ADE 651, focusing on the officials who had previously given assurances of
6357-461: Is proven ineffective. Personally, I have never handled the device myself. But my people have used it and it is accurate every time. Long long time ago, people believed that the Earth is flat and anyone who said otherwise faced execution. Things which are not visible does not necessarily mean they do not exist. The devices are there and no one has the right to ban their use. I will continue to use it." At
6520-524: Is that devices have been detonated after passing through checkpoints. Iraqi civilians have died as a result." McCormick's application for an appeal against his sentence was rejected by the Court of Appeal , with Judge Elgan Edwards stating: "The circumstances were quite appalling. The applicant knew precisely what he was doing. He did it for enormous profit and that conduct simply cannot and will not be tolerated." The judge commented that "if this case does not merit
6683-874: The Lebanese Army , the Chinese Police , the Royal Thai Police and the Interior Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan . The website claimed that the Jordanian government required hotels to employ ADE 651 devices to scan vehicles entering underground car parks. ATSC's McCormick says that 20 countries have acquired the device, with purchasers including "the Saudis, Indian police,
GT200 - Misplaced Pages Continue
6846-617: The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center at the Thailand Science Park's Sirindhorn Science Home in Pathum Thani , in a process involving 30 GT200 operators, 30 members of the investigating committee and 10 independent observers. Ten GT200 units were used in double blind tests to detect 20 grams of C4 explosive concealed in one of four identical plastic boxes. However, the testers were not allowed to examine
7009-517: The Newsnight investigation, but told The New York Times that ATSC would remain in business: "Our company is still fully operational." He told The Times that ATSC had been dealing with doubters for ten years and that the device was merely being criticised because of its "primitive" appearance. He said: "We are working on a new model that has flashing lights". Your fraudulent conduct in selling so many useless devices for simply enormous profit promoted
7172-404: The Secretariat of National Defense had purchased 300 GT200s for use throughout the country, including at 133 strategic locations. By late 2009 the figure had increased to 521 GT200s, which had been deployed to 11 strategic checkpoints and 284 regional control stations around the country. In the violence-wracked city of Ciudad Juárez , the newspaper Excélsior reported that "military squads roam
7335-490: The September 11 attacks in the United States opened up lucrative opportunities for sellers of security equipment. The ADE 651's inventor was Jim McCormick, a former Merseyside Police officer and managing director of ATSC, was previously a salesman specialising in communications equipment but had no scientific or technical background. He established a private limited company (registered company 03407495) on 23 July 1997 under
7498-698: The South Thailand insurgency and another 222 units for use in other areas, the Royal Thai Police 's purchase of 50 units for use in Police Region 4 ( Khon Kaen ), 6 units acquired by the Central Institute of Forensic Science and an equal number acquired by the Customs Department, the Royal Thai Air Force 's purchase of 4 units, and the single unit acquired by the Chai Nat police. Other agencies, such as
7661-617: The United Nations Environment Programme bought 15 GT200s in 2005 at a cost of $ 5,000 each and distributed them to the five LATF member states. In Uganda, the GT200s were installed at Entebbe International Airport , border crossings and internal checkpoints. A report submitted by Kenya to the CITES Standing Committee in 2006 stated that "three staffs from Tanzania were trained on the use of GT 200 Ivory Detector for
7824-566: The "worthless [Alpha 6] boxes" at a cost of 350 million baht. The British scammer who sold the devices to Thailand was found guilty of fraud in the UK and imprisoned in 2013. The Bangkok Post fumed that, "The disappointing and unsatisfactory outcome of this astoundingly long investigation shows up the enormous failings of the anti-graft commission." The use of the GT200 as a means of tracking smuggled ivory in Kenya has also been questioned. Stephen Fry , who saw
7987-545: The 2010 BBC Newsnight exposé of the device, the UK Government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced that the BBC tests had shown that "the technology used in the ADE 651 and similar devices is not suitable for bomb detection" and they "could cause harm to UK and other friendly forces in Iraq and Afghanistan". It had therefore decided to ban the export of the ADE 651 and similar devices to those two countries under
8150-529: The ADE 651 became the focus of controversy for its role in Iraq, concerns were raised in Pakistan about its employment as a bomb detector by the ASF. A senior official at Jinnah International Airport denied that the ADE 651 was being used, claiming that the ASF had designed the device in use there, but other ASF officials acknowledged that their device "operated on the same principle as ADE-651." Pakistani scientists rejected
8313-490: The ADE 651 that found it to be ineffective. According to Major Joe Scrocca, "The examination resulted in a determination that there was no possible means by which the ADE 651 could detect explosives and therefore was determined to be totally ineffective and fraudulent. As a result of that study, the US military notified all military and civilian personnel in Iraq that the bomb detection device is ineffective and should not be relied upon as
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#17328518820848476-577: The ADE 651 to prevent a series of bombings in Baghdad and the circumstances of its procurement raised concerns in Iraq even before it became the subject of media exposés. The New York Times reported in November 2009 that Aqeel al-Turaihi, the Iraqi Interior Ministry's inspector-general, had begun an investigation into the contracts that the ministry had signed with ATSC. The Prime Minister of Iraq , Nouri al-Maliki , also ordered an investigation into
8639-439: The ADE 651 was primarily by Iraqi security forces for security checkpoints. Due to the false sense of security, many critics pointed to numerous incidents where bombings occurred despite the presence of the ADE 651 at security checkpoints, underscoring its ineffectiveness. In 2010, the British government banned the exportation of the device to Iraq and Afghanistan after military officials' claims of its ineffectiveness and McCormick
8802-436: The ADE 651, described the proper use of the device as more of an art than a science. "If we are tense, the device doesn't work correctly. I start slow, and relax my body, and I try to clear my mind." The cards were supposedly "programmed" or "activated" by being placed in a jar for a week along with a sample of the target substance to absorb the substance's "vapours". Initially, McCormick reportedly used his own blood to "program"
8965-410: The ADE 651, it consisted of a hand unit on which a swinging antenna was mounted, linked to a box worn on the belt in which the cards were inserted to identify the "molecular frequency" of whatever the user wanted to detect. The cards were "programmed" by photocopying a Polaroid photograph of the target, cutting up the resulting copy, and pasting the pieces between two squares of plastic. Quattlebaum sold
9128-762: The ADE 651, with which he had bought a farmhouse in Somerset, Nicolas Cage 's former £3.5 million house in Bath with its own basement swimming pool, holiday homes in Cyprus and Florida, a £600,000 luxury yacht, and three horses for one of his daughters. The police declared that they would seek to "pursue his wealth" using the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 . McCormick was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on 2 May 2013. In passing sentence, Richard Hone said: "Your fraudulent conduct in selling so many useless devices for simply enormous profit promoted
9291-407: The ADE 651." A whistleblower who worked to sell the device around the world with McCormick told the BBC that he once challenged McCormick over the device's effectiveness. McCormick was said to have answered that the device did "exactly what it's meant to ... it makes money." ATSC was the principal vendor of the ADE devices. Its accounts at Companies House recorded a turnover of £1.78 million for
9454-450: The ADE ;651. Promotional material issued by ATSC claimed that the ADE 651 could detect such item as guns, ammunition, drugs, truffles, human bodies, contraband ivory and bank notes at distances of up to 1 kilometre (0.62 mi), underground, through walls, underwater or even from aircraft at an altitude of up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). In a promotional video, McCormick claimed that
9617-497: The ADE651 could "by-pass" all known attempts to conceal the target substance. It has been claimed to penetrate lead, concrete, and other materials (including hiding in the body) used in attempts to block the attraction." Prosec, a Lebanese reseller of the ADE 651, claimed on its website that the device works on nuclear quadrupole resonance or nuclear magnetic resonance . McCormick told the BBC in 2010 that "the theory behind dowsing and
9780-443: The ASF to test the device to confirm its effectiveness but the ASF refused, insisting that the device works. The Belgian police bought an ADE 651 in 2008 for £12,800 to detect drugs, as a supposedly cheaper alternative to a dog. According to Superintendent Thierry Meunier, it was soon apparent that it was ineffective: "We had no results from it. We tried to use the device for detecting drugs in cars for several months. We also provided
9943-428: The BBC that her life had been destroyed after she was caught in a bomb attack which caused injuries that killed her unborn child and prompted her husband to divorce her because of her extensive burns, which have so far required her to undergo 59 operations. She said: "When people passed through checkpoints using these devices, they thought they would be safe. But they are useless. The man who sold them has no conscience. He
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#173285188208410106-781: The Border Patrol Police Bureau and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, use a similar device — the Alpha 6 from the company Comstrac — to detect drugs. According to the Bangkok Post , the first to procure the GT200 was the Royal Thai Air Force , in 2006, for purposes of detecting explosives and drugs at airports; the next was the Royal Thai Army . According to Lt Gen Daopong Rattansuwan,
10269-503: The British company Advanced Tactical Security & Communications Ltd (ATSC). It was claimed to detect many substances, such as drugs or explosives, from long distances. The device was sold to various countries, particularly in Iraq where the government was claimed to have spent £52 million for security operations. The product was invented by Jim McCormick, ATSC's managing director and a former Merseyside police officer. The device features
10432-772: The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and was procured by the Dubai Customs in 2009. Hotels in Manila in the Philippines use it to detect bombs. It is also in use in Lebanon , Jordan and China. The effectiveness of the GT200 has been the subject of controversy in Thailand, where the device has been reported to have been implicated in several deaths when it failed to detect improvised explosive devices which detonated, killing civilians and personnel from
10595-490: The Central Institute of Forensic Science; Royal Thai Army Ordnance Department; Customs Department; Provincial Administration Department; Royal Thai Aide-De-Camp Department; Provincial Police of Sing Buri and Chai Nat; Songkhla Provincial Administration; Royal Thai Navy Security Centre; and five provinces: Phitsanulok, Phetchaburi, Phuket, Yala, and Sukhothai. The head of Ava Satcom Ltd., the Thai company that sold eight GT200 devices to
10758-595: The Chief Constable of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Chair of the International Police Assistance Board, who personally ordered an investigation into McCormick and ATSC. In January 2010, ATSC's McCormick was arrested on suspicion of fraud. On 12 July 2012, McCormick was charged on three counts that between 15 January 2007, and 12 July 2012, he had in his possession or control an article for use in
10921-513: The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Royal Thai Army, each GT200 bought by the army cost 900,000 baht (£17,000), rising to 1.2 million baht (£22,000) if 21 "sensor cards" were included with it. In total, Thailand's government and security forces have spent between 800 and 900 million baht (US$ 21 million) on the devices. Figures updated in 2016 claim that the Thai government spent 1.4 billion baht on
11084-425: The Export Control Act 2002 that came into force on 27 January 2010, banning the export to Iraq and Afghanistan of "'electro-statically powered' equipment for detecting 'explosives'", on the grounds that such equipment "could cause harm to UK and other friendly forces". The export ban covers all such devices, including the GT200. Officers from the City of London Police Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit subsequently raided
11247-499: The Export Control Act 2002, with effect from 27 January 2010. The device had not previously been subject to export restrictions as it was non-military equipment. The department offered "cooperation with any investigation [the Iraqi authorities] may wish to make into how the device came to be bought for their military as bomb detection equipment." The banning order prohibited the export to Iraq and Afghanistan of "'electro-statically powered' equipment for detecting 'explosives'". McCormick
11410-427: The GT200 around the world between 2001 and 2004. Royal Engineers sales teams demonstrated the devices at arms fairs and the UK Department of Trade and Industry helped two companies sell the GT200 and similar products in Mexico and the Philippines. On 12 July 2012, Andrew Penhale, Deputy Head of the Crown Prosecution Service 's Central Fraud Division, authorised charges against six individuals, including Gary Bolton, for
11573-424: The GT200 being used by Kenyan rangers in an attempt to catch poachers, described the misinformation which accompanied the devices as "cynical, cruel and monstrous." He told the BBC's Newsnight programme: "I was horrified. They had spent a vast sum of money on a modern equivalent of a hazel twig divining rod. There was no possibility that such a thing could work." Most of the Mexican media coverage on GT200 lacked of
11736-661: The GT200 has been bought among others by the SEDENA , SEMAR , some PEMEX filials and some state police agencies. As of 2011, more than MXN$ 340 million Mexican pesos (US$ 26 million US dollars (at 2011-09-16 rate)) have been spent to purchase more than 940 detectors. On 13 September 2011, a group of scientists, including members of the Science Council of the Presidency and the president of the Mexican Academy of Science, met members of
11899-452: The GT200 in January 2010 found that the "sensor card" consisted only of two sheets of card between which was sandwiched a sheet of paper, white on one side and black on the other, that had been cut off from a larger sheet with a knife or scissors. It contained no electronic components whatsoever. When the device's case was dismantled, it too was found to contain no electronic components. Explosives expert Sidney Alford told Newsnight: "Speaking as
12062-402: The GT200 units worked with 100 per cent confidence and that the Army was ready to prove the units' effectiveness any time, anywhere. Pornthip Rojanasunand , Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, also defended the use of the GT200 devices, claiming that they were effective when searching for bombs and even nails under water. She said: "I do not feel embarrassed if the bomb detector
12225-796: The GT200, the scam was exposed in some Mexican newspapers. Later, Juan José Morales from Por Esto! wrote a couple of columns and Bonfil Olivera was interviewed by Ana Paula Ordorica and Enrique Acevedo for La Otra Agenda TV show. A local newspaper in Cuernavaca published about the detector in their science popularisation section in the charge of the Academy of Sciences of the State of Morelos. A few critical articles published in 2011 include two interviews by Benito Jiménez and an interview by Guillermo Cárdenas. All of this had been not enough to create public awareness on this subject. Main press and TV continued not just ignoring
12388-424: The GT200. He insisted that "the device operators on the ground can use them effectively. This may not be explained scientifically, but I'm telling the truth." While not rejecting the result of the tests, he stood by the device's effectiveness and argued that "as the men on the ground are impressed with it and demanded the equipment, it is the duty of the commander to procure them." He rejected the use of sniffer dogs on
12551-476: The Iraqi Parliament during emergency parliamentary hearings in 2009 that "the detection of car bombs and explosive material using these devices is very limited, and this increases the likelihood that these devices have low efficiency." Another MP, Hussain al-Falluji, demanded that Iraqi security forces immediately cease using the ADE 651. His proposal to establish an investigative committee and seek to recover
12714-495: The Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Committee said: "This company not only caused grave and massive losses of funds, but it has caused grave and massive losses of the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians, by the hundreds and thousands, from attacks that we thought we were immune to because we have this device." He told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper: "The tasks of the committee are limited to two tracks, [and that is] reaching
12877-532: The Iraqis working with him killed my people by creating false security and selling such a useless device". In one incident, a vehicle carrying rockets and missiles travelled undetected through 23 Baghdad checkpoints equipped with the ADE 651. The false sense of security provided by the device had catastrophic effects for many Iraqi people, hundreds of whom were killed in bombings that the ADE 651 failed to prevent. The victim of one such bombing, 21-year-old Haneen Alwan, told
13040-536: The Lifeguard to be completely useless, and other designs by the Lifeguard's creator Thomas Afilani have been shown to contain numerous dummy components with no clear function. Accusing the manufacturers of fraud, the UK banned export of the GT 200 , used by the government of Thailand, and the ADE 651 , used by the government of Iraq, in January 2010. ADE 651 The ADE 651 is a fraudulent bomb detector produced by
13203-549: The Mexican Congress approved a declaration exhorting the President to collect from the scientific community and to analyse all opinions and evidence on the effectiveness of the GT200 as a molecular detector, with the help of his Science Council. It may be interesting to note that to this date (Aug.9, 2012), after five and a half years of his presidency, president Calderón had never met with his Science Council. On 29 August 2012,
13366-613: The Minister of the Interior. We said that the company which you made a contract with is not well-regarded internationally in the field of explosives detectors, and the price is very high and not commensurate with the abilities of this device." Al-Turehi said that the buying process had been "marred by suspicions over the equipment and the efficiency and value of the contracts. There were senior officials involved in these transactions." The initial investigation found that it could detect some bombs and
13529-490: The NACC would come up with a decision on the matter "at an appropriate time. The NACC will not allow the statute of limitations to expire...." Surasak claimed that officials bought the devices despite their exorbitant price tag because they thought they would work. "Sometimes, it is not about the value of devices. It's more about belief, just like when you buy Buddha amulets ," Surasak said. "Officials who used this device found it worth
13692-465: The Quadro Tracker, as "a fraud" and told all agencies to immediately cease using it. Another alert issued in 1999 told agencies: "Warning. Do not use bogus explosives detection devices." A US Army test of a similar device found that it was unable to detect a truck carrying a tonne of TNT when it drove up behind the operator. In June 2009, the US Army carried out a laboratory test including X-ray analysis on
13855-539: The Royal Thai Aide-De-Camp Department in 2008, was sentenced in September 2018 to nine years in prison and fined 18,000 baht. The purchase cost the government more than nine million baht. The week previously a court had sentenced him to 10 years in prison for selling GT200 devices to the army for 600 million baht. The judgements will be appealed on the grounds that the GT200s were imported on the orders of
14018-556: The Science Committee of the Senate to discuss the GT200. The scientists argued that the claimed scientific basis for the operation of the GT200 was false and that the device was unlikely to work, they pointed out the risks to the armed forces and to the civilian population from the continued use of the "detector", and that notwithstanding the apparent number of favourable testimonies, the devices had to be subjected to controlled double blind tests. The senators announced they would present
14181-539: The Supreme Court of Justice announced that it would review a case involving the GT200. It seems that two young men were accused of dealing with cocaine. The judge disregarded the case stating that there was no scientific evidence proving the usefulness of the GT200. The Attorney General appealed this decision and the Supreme Court stepped in. On 22 December 2012, a newspaper announced that the new Attorney General (Procurador General de la República) had prohibited its use by
14344-613: The Thai Cabinet ordered the Ministry of Science and Technology to carry out tests on the GT200. The Interior and Justice Ministries also commissioned the ministry to test the similar Alpha 6 device, which they used to search for drugs. The evaluation team included engineers, scientists, military, police and representatives from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the National Statistics Office. The tests were carried out by
14507-532: The Thai military and police spent millions on bogus GT200 "bomb detectors", the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) investigation is still "on-going". Surasak Keereevichien, an NACC member, stated in August 2018 that it is difficult for the anti-graft agency to ascertain whether there was any wrongdoing committed in the 1.13-billion baht purchase of fake "remote substance detectors". He said
14670-617: The UN should carry out its own tests. UNIFIL did so over the course of two days but found that the device was "not fit for purpose". The ADE 651 was also sold to customers in Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Georgia, India, Iran, Kenya, Niger, Qatar, Romania, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The Mövenpick Hotel in Bahrain bought one to detect car bombs but, according to
14833-468: The apparent responsiveness of the ADE 651 was due to fragrances containing traces of the explosive substance RDX . The veteran Canadian-American skeptic and magician James Randi publicly offered one million dollars to anyone who can prove the device's effectiveness as far back as October 2008. Randi issued a statement calling the ADE 651 "a useless quack device which cannot perform any other function than separating naive persons from their money. It's
14996-605: The area to be clear of bombs. Numerous people were killed and injured in two bomb attacks in October 2009 in which the GT200 was used by security forces. On 6 October 2009, a car bomb exploded opposite the Merlin Hotel in Su-ngai Kolok , killing one person and injuring 20, after it had been "scanned" using a GT200 and declared to be free of explosives. A motorcycle bomb exploded on 19 October in Yala, injuring another 26 people, again after
15159-461: The balance of the cost going on training and middlemen. The training included instructions to Iraqi users to "shuffle their feet to generate static electricity to make the things work." The ADE 651 has been used at hundreds of Iraqi police and Iraqi military checkpoints across the country, often replacing physical inspections of vehicles. Major-General Jihad al-Jabiri of the Interior Ministry's General Directorate for Combating Explosives has defended
15322-457: The bottom half of the device was completely empty. Asked if there was anything in the sealed top half of the device, Lt Col Somchai said: "There is nothing. Once there was an accident and the device came apart. There was nothing inside." The host concluded: "So it is just two pieces of plastic put together." Following controversy over a similar device, the ADE 651 , the UK Government issued an order under
15485-401: The cards for detecting human tissue, but eventually gave up even the pretense of "programming" them when demand for the devices was at its peak. The use of the device by Iraqi and Pakistani security forces has become a major international controversy. The very similar GT200 and Alpha 6 devices, widely used in Thailand and Mexico, also came under scrutiny in the wake of the revelations about
15648-417: The case (October 2012), El Universal , a major Mexican newspaper, published a detailed account of the results. The test was conducted by two physicists, members of the Mexican Academy of Science, and several military men and policemen participated, including two certified expert operators of the GT200. More than 1600 amphetamine capsules and four bullets were hidden in one of eight cardboard boxes distributed on
15811-409: The cheapest bit of electronics that you can get that look vaguely electronic and are sufficiently flat to fit inside a card." The "card reader" was found to be an empty plastic box. Psychology professor Bruce Hood has noted that the swinging of the antenna is merely due to its loose assembly and unconscious wrist movements by the user ( ideomotor phenomenon ). Explosives expert Sidney Alford described
15974-468: The continued use of the ADE 651. In 2010, the then-head of the ministry's counter-explosives unit, General Jihad al-Jabiri, told the BBC that his organisation had "conducted several tests on them, and found them successful. In addition, we have a series of achievements officially documented by the Baghdad operations centre, from all the provinces, which establish that these devices detected thousands of bombs, booby-trapped houses and car bombs, and we've noticed
16137-510: The course of or in connection with fraud contrary to Section 6 of the Fraud Act 2006 ; and three further charges that between the same dates he made or adapted, supplied or offered to supply an article knowing it was designed or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with, or intending it to be used to commit, or to assist in a fraud, contrary to Section 7 of the Fraud Act 2006. Following
16300-458: The design. One of these, the ADE 101, was sold for up to $ 7,000 per unit. He also marketed a version called the ADE 650. The ADE 651 was a further development of the same design. According to an associate of ATSC, the devices were manufactured at a cost of £150 each by suppliers in Great Britain and Romania . The associate told The New York Times : "Everyone at ATSC knew there was nothing inside
16463-554: The designer. Such functioning circuitry as exists in such devices usually has no obvious way (motor, solenoid, etc.) to connect to any rotating joint in the device either, meaning the devices are often entirely dependent on the ideomotor effect to function. Author Tom Clancy came under fire for including the DKL Lifeguard, a long-range locator purported to be useful for detecting people, in critical passages of his novel Rainbow Six . A study by Sandia National Laboratories proved
16626-533: The detector to detectives seeking to detect drugs. The results again were negative." The Lebanese Army bought ADE 651s. In addition, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) bought five ADE 651s at a cost of £46,000 to detect explosives in vehicles. ATSC offered the UN a further 80 of the devices, but declined to provide evidence that the ADE 651 could do what was claimed and suggested that
16789-463: The device as "immoral", telling Newsnight that "it could result in people being killed in the dozens, if not hundreds". Newsnight noted that thousands of people had indeed been killed and injured in devastating car bomb attacks in Baghdad such as the 25 October and 8 December 2009 Baghdad bombings , without the bombers being detected by the ADE 651 devices. McCormick refused to be interviewed for
16952-399: The device could detect elephants from 48 kilometres (30 mi) away. The ADE 651 was said to work on the principle of "electrostatic magnetic ion attraction". According to the promotional material, "by programming the detection cards to specifically target a particular substance, (through the proprietary process of electrostatic matching of the ionic charge and structure of the substance),
17115-530: The device is causing a lot of suspicion among scientists in Thailand for several reasons. According to them, the procedure of finding suspicious objects is not based on a reliable scientific method. Besides, GT200 is not being used by credible international organisations." Concerns were raised by some within the Thai establishment. General Pathomphong Kasornsuk, the former chief advisor of the Supreme Command, urged Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to investigate
17278-580: The device is said to create an "attracting field" utilising "dia/para magnetism" between the device and the substance that is to be detected. The field is claimed to make the antenna of the GT200 lock onto a signal, indicating the direction in which the substance can be located. According to the promotional material, if the device is used correctly, it "can detect substance(s) through walls, (even lead-lined and metal ones), water, (fresh and salted), fresh and frozen food, (fish, fruit, tea, coffee, ice), vacuum flask, containers, petrol and diesel fuel and even buried in
17441-456: The device without any of them detecting the weapons. Iraqi civilians complained that the device seems to have "an unerring attraction to shampoo and soapsuds". According to Iraqi police officer Jasim Hussein, "The vast majority of the people we stop, it's because of their perfume". A fellow officer, Hasan Ouda, commented that "Most people now understand it's what gets them searched, so they don't use as much." McCormick of ATSC falsely claimed that
17604-711: The device's export from the UK to Iraq and Afghanistan and a criminal investigation of its manufacturer. The Iraqi security forces' reliance on the device was highlighted by The New York Times investigation in November 2009, which reported that United States military and technical experts believed the device was useless. US Army Major-General Richard Rowe told the newspaper that "there's [no] magic wand that can detect explosives. If there was, we would all be using it. I have no confidence that these work". Sandia National Laboratories had carried out testing of several similar devices but found that "none have ever performed better than random chance". Retired US Air Force Colonel Hal Bidlack ,
17767-467: The device's technical soundness. The Iraqi Army's Baghdad Operations Command, which had previously procured 100 of the devices, distanced itself from their use. Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said: "The devices have helped us in parts of our work but in some aspects they are not useful. Their performance does not match our aspirations. There is some percent of error in their performance and these devices must be updated." Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
17930-453: The device, how well it works "depends on the static electricity stored in the body of its user. If the person using the detector is feeling weak physically, his static electricity will be down and weaken the effectiveness of the device." After the BBC reported that the British government was to warn foreign governments that the GT200 and other similar devices were "wholly ineffective" at detecting bombs and explosives, General Anupong said that
18093-399: The device, telling Al Iraqiya television that the ADE 651 had "managed to prevent and detect more than 16,000 bombs that would be a threat to people's life and more than 733 car bombs were defused." He said: "Iraq is considered as a market area for many companies producing such devices ... and there are other rival companies trying to belittle the efficiency of these instruments the government
18256-456: The device: "Whether it's magic or scientific, what I care about is detecting bombs. I don't care what they say. I know more about bombs than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world." He told a press conference that the ADE 651 has detected "hundreds of roadside bombs and car bombs" and any deficiencies were due to defective training in the device's use. The Iraqi Interior Minister, Jawad al-Bulani , also defended
18419-491: The devices for between $ 395 and $ 8,000 for a unit claimed to be capable of detecting humans, using a Polaroid photograph of the individual concerned for the "programming." A cheaper variant called the Golfinder or Gopher was available for $ 69. Although the Quadro Tracker was enjoined from being manufactured or sold in the United States after a 1996 federal court case, Quadro's four principal figures escaped criminal sanctions after
18582-527: The devices have not been shown to work in blind testing, and the resonance principle invoked has not been shown to work in laboratories (and is not consistently employed by LRL manufacturers). In addition, the Inverse-Square Law limits the effective possible signal strength of any putative LRL; moreover, not only does this attenuation apply to the supposed emissions from the LRL devices, but the return signals from
18745-411: The devices in 2008 for £20m and a further 700 in 2009 for £32m, in no-bid contracts with ATSC. The Iraqi government paid up to £37,000 for the devices despite the purchase price being put at around £11,500. The Iraqi Army's Baghdad Operations Command announced in November 2009 that it had purchased another hundred of the devices. McCormick of ATSC has said that the devices were sold for £5,000 each, with
18908-427: The earth" and can detect narcotics for up to two weeks after they have been ingested by a target individual. According to the Thai newspaper The Nation , the GT200 is "just a new name" for a previous Global Technical product, the MOLE programmable substance detection system. It operated in the same way as the GT200, using a swinging antenna to point to a target material indicated via "programmable cards" inserted into
19071-405: The effectiveness of the devices following several bomb attacks. The Iraqi parliament did not order an official investigation but Iraqi MP Nadeem al-Jabiri said: "the security and defence committee in the parliament, headed by Hadi al-Amiri, is following up this matter as part of the parliament's duty as a monitoring entity." The Interior Ministry's report noted that "many lives have been lost due to
19234-411: The grounds that they could not detect explosives at a distance and were disliked by Muslims for religious reasons. The former army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin also argued that the purchase of the GT200 had been justified as there was demand from operational units, despite the high price of the device: "Price is not an issue if the device is able to save people's lives." Prime Minister Abhisit ordered
19397-703: The handlers walked past his car. But they led the officers to the car in front, where several automatic rifles were kept. Hundreds of people are said to have been detained by Thai security forces on the basis of GT200 readings. According to Human Rights Watch , about 10 per cent of those detained on suspicion of involvement in the insurgency have been arrested on this basis. In one village in Narathiwat Province , 32 people were arrested after GT200s were used to "detect" traces of explosive substances on their bodies. Most of them were detained without charge for an extended period. Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch commented: "It
19560-595: The hotel's head of security, who gave evidence to the Old Bailey trial, it could not even detect a firework: "It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working at all". The Mövenpick hotel ceased using the device following the intervention of the Bahrain Ministry of Interior in mid 2010 at the beginning of an enquiry in co-operation with UK Police which continued until the trial of McCormick in April 2013. The Quadro Tracker, also known as
19723-400: The interior of the GT200 because of confidentiality agreements prohibiting the disclosure of "any information regarding the device." The test results were announced by Prime Minister Abhisit on 16 February, who disclosed that the investigators found that the GT200 had correctly detected explosives only four times in 20 tests. He said, "The result has no statistical significance. The performance
19886-498: The manufacture, promotion and sale of a range of fraudulent substance detector devices. Bolton was formally charged at the City of London Magistrates' Court on 19 July with one count of fraud by false representation and one count of making or supplying an item for use in fraud between January and July 2012, and pleaded not guilty to both charges. Bolton was convicted on 26 July 2013 at The Old Bailey and released on bail pending sentence. Bolton
20049-404: The maximum possible sentence, I don't know what does." McCormick was subsequently ordered to forfeit £7,944,834 under a proceeds of crime order to recompense the organisations defrauded by him, including £2.3 million to repay Iraq. His prison sentence was extended in 2018 by a further 2 years after he refused to meet a £1.8m shortfall in these repayments. He was released in 2019. The failure of
20212-651: The military. The defense claims that army officers approached Ava Satcom with instructions, and specific specifications to buy, import, and resell 535 GT200s to the army. The military men involved have never been censured for their obvious gullibility and possible wrongdoing. The device was widely used in Mexico, where it was jokingly called "The devil's Ouija " (Spanish: La Ouija del diablo), as security forces ineffectively used it in an attempt combat drug traffickers and to search for explosives. The Mexican government has spent over 340 million pesos (US$ 27 million) buying GT200s at
20375-525: The ministry went ahead with the contract despite al-Turehi's concerns. An unnamed Iraqi officer told the Agence France-Presse that "We know it doesn't work and that it has been banned [in Britain], but we are continuing to use it. It is bullshit. But still we are lying about it." Despite the controversy, the device continued to be used at checkpoints across Iraq. The Iraqi Interior Ministry has defended
20538-490: The money spent on the devices was supported by other parliamentarians. Hadi Al-Ameri, the head of the Parliament's Security and Defense Committee, said that he would push for an official investigation to "find out how this piece of equipment was sold to Iraq." If it was determined that ATSC was responsible he planned to "seek compensation via the ministry of foreign affairs." MP Haneen Kado said: "If we rely on these devices there
20701-607: The name "Broadcasting and Telecommunications Ltd" which he subsequently renamed "Advanced Tactical Security & Communications Ltd" (ATSC). The company was based in a former dairy in Sparkford , Somerset. After he came across the Mole Programmable Substance Detector in 2000, McCormick signed up as a distribution agent, paying the UK-based manufacturer £10,000 for a single unit. The device was withdrawn from sale only
20864-474: The offices of Global Technical and two other makers of similar "bomb detectors". A large amount of cash and several hundred of the devices and their component parts were seized. The police said that they were investigating on suspicion of fraud by false representation and were also investigating whether bribes had been paid to secure contracts to supply the devices. On 27 February 2011 the British government told BBC Newsnight that it had helped Global Technical sell
21027-531: The operator knows beforehand where the substance is hidden, but is otherwise useless. The El Paso Times reported on 24 October 2011 that the Mexican army turned down an offer from the Mexican Association for the Sciences to help test the effectiveness of the GT200. In a written response, the Mexican army stated that their contract with the GT200 supplier prevents them from accepting the offer. On 5 June 2012
21190-465: The organisation's logo without permission. McCormick said that he had sold the ADE 651 and similar devices to security forces internationally but none had complained about them. On 23 April 2013, McCormick was convicted on three counts of fraud. The chief investigating officer in the case, Detective Superintendent Nigel Rock, said: There was no evidence demonstrated, that McCormick or his company ATSC UK conducted any proper research or development into
21353-435: The personnel using altogether four GT200 devices. After more than 30 minutes, all four devices failed to locate the explosives. Eventually, the head of the bomb disposal squad showed them where the bombs were hidden, much to the embarrassment of all concerned. One of the authors of this story, Mr Surapan, did his own detective work as well. While the bomb squad was busy scouring the roadside bushes, he drove into town and borrowed
21516-429: The police forces under his command, as the GT200 had failed scientific tests, and that their purchase was being investigated. Long range locator Skeptics have examined the internals of many such devices and found those that have been examined to be incapable of operating as advertised, and have dismissed them as overpriced dowsing rods or similarly useless devices. Virtually all such devices claim to operate on
21679-458: The price. But some people see the price as too high." When the GT200 scandal first came to light, the equipment was tested by the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and it found that the GT200 consisted of two pieces of plastic and lacked any electronic components, as was advertised in a brochure distributed to potential customers. In the wake of the GT200 controversy,
21842-504: The procurement by the Interior and Justice Ministries of the Alpha 6 "molecular detector" device has come under scrutiny. The Thailand Science and Technology Ministry announced that it would broaden its tests to verify the claimed effectiveness of the Alpha 6. The case was declared "closed" in May 2018 after 10 years of investigation. Three minor officials are deemed responsible for the purchase of 493 of
22005-446: The procurement of more GT200s would be halted if the device was proven to be ineffective, although existing GT200s would continue to be used for bomb detection purposes. Other senior military figures continued to insist that the device worked as advertised, saying that it had detected explosives, weapons and narcotics in 173 out of 236 incidents, with a success rate higher than 80 per cent. Army Spokesperson Sansern Kaewkamnerd insisted that
22168-495: The procurement scheme for the GT200 devices and other elements of the counter-insurgency campaign in southern Thailand. Jetsada Denduangboripan, a scientist at Chulalongkorn University, told a committee of the House of Representatives of Thailand in January 2010 that "The GT200 cannot detect explosives. It is not scientific equipment. It works on the users' hunch. It is similar to a wood stick that people used to detect dead bodies buried in
22331-510: The products manufactured; in fact he refused to submit the ADE devices to independent tests. He sold his detection devices to many governments, defence agencies and private institutions around the world. A large proportion of these were countries where there was and still remains a real risk of terrorism and criminality. Iraq was one country which between 2008 and 2010 bought 6,000 devices at a cost in excess of $ 40 million. The devices were used at numerous checkpoints within Iraq during this period. It
22494-483: The purchase of 1,358 devices between 2006 and 2010. Even after the efficacy of the device was debunked by Thai and foreign scientists, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha , then army chief, declared, "I affirm that the device is still effective." The Bangkok Post commented that, "The GT200 case was a unique scandal because the devices...seemed to fool only the people closely connected to their sale and purchase." In total, 14 government agencies were duped into buying GT200s:
22657-527: The purposes of law enforcement against illegal dealing in ivory products, in the country. Four (4) Ivory Detectors are currently in place and are used for law enforcement activities especially at entry and exit points." The GT200 has been demonstrated in India for organisations including the Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Security Guards, Narcotics Control Bureau and
22820-462: The same thing. We have bought them and if the users insist they are good, that's end of the discussion." Joint Military Police Civilian Taskforce commander Lt-General Kasikorn Kirisri said any issues with the GT200 scanner were due to human error. According to Col Banpot Poonpian of the Thai Army's Internal Security Operations Command, the GT200 has "proved effective although it may not work perfectly". It
22983-544: The scientific basis on which the device was claimed to work: Professor Shahid Zaidi of Karachi University told the Pakistani newspaper Dawn that "there has to be an electric, magnetic or electromagnetic field for a device to work in such a manner. Furthermore static fields don’t move around the way it is being claimed by some. Also don’t forget that there are so many radio waves of different frequencies all around us. I just don’t see how this device would work." Dawn challenged
23146-497: The scientists who had conducted the tests to explain their findings to the military and ask them to stop using the device, but said that he did not want to confront the army. Some soldiers, however, were reported to have abandoned the GT200 and turned instead to using chopsticks and their own hands to detect bombs hidden on motorcycles. In August 2012, the Thai Department of Special Investigation (DSI), which had been carrying out
23309-546: The security forces. Three members of a border patrol police unit were killed on 7 November 2008 in Panare District when the GT200 they were using failed to detect a bomb planted on a road. In the Mueang Yala District of Yala Province , security forces used a GT200 to investigate the scene of the murder of two officials, but were unable to detect a follow-up boobytrap bomb, which exploded just after they had declared
23472-526: The similar ADE 651 was exposed as a fraud, the UK Government banned the export of such devices to Iraq and Afghanistan in January 2010 and warned foreign governments that the GT200 and ADE 651 are "wholly ineffective" at detecting bombs and explosives. The owner of Global Technical, Gary Bolton, was convicted on 26 July 2013 on two charges of fraud relating to the sale and manufacture of the GT200 and sentenced to seven years in prison. The GT200 consists of three main components—a swivelling antenna mounted via
23635-668: The sought-after targets are further attenuated by the same constraints. Since most of these LRL devices are powered by low voltage, low current AA, AAA or 9v cells, the resultant power available for emissions is quite minuscule at best, and the return signal would suffer even greater attenuation. Examples exist of LRL devices having no internal power source at all, and these are advertised as being self-powered or powered by ambient static electricity ; these are indistinguishable from dowsing rods. Many such devices contain non-functional circuitry or naively constructed approximations of radio transmitters. A few do have functional circuitry, putting out
23798-479: The start of February 2010, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that he agreed that the device should be tested to determine whether it was effective. He told the media: "It's dangerous if you think something unworkable is working. So we must test to see whether the device works. We should also discuss what we should do." If the devices were found to be ineffective, an investigation would be ordered to determine why they had been bought. Following Abhisit's intervention,
23961-596: The streets and go from house to house, using a molecular detector known as GT200" to find weapons, drugs and money. Prison personnel in Juárez and its parent state, Chihuahua , have been provided with GT200s to detect escape tunnels being dug by prisoners. The device is used to detect smuggled ivory in the central African states of Zambia , Uganda, Kenya , Tanzania and the Republic of the Congo . The Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) and
24124-640: The subject but even justifying it. Mexican military continues doing searches and explosives are ruled out based on GT200 results. This situation might have changed the publication by a major newspaper, El Universal , of a critical article in its first page. Subsequent articles were published daily for a week in the main and editorial pages of that newspaper, and interviews with scientists and human rights defenders were transmitted in television and radio channels. According to data available in Federal Institute of Access to Public Information ( IFAI ) and press notes,
24287-566: The theory behind how we actually detect explosives is very similar". The ADE 651 is a descendant of the Quadro Tracker Positive Molecular Locator produced in the 1990s by Wade Quattlebaum, an American car dealer, commercial diver and treasure hunter. The Quadro Tracker was promoted by Quattlebaum initially as a device to find lost golf balls, and later as a means of detecting marijuana, cocaine, heroin, gunpowder, and dynamite using "carbo-crystalised" software cards. Like
24450-499: The truth over what happened with regards to the signing of the contracts for these bomb detection devices; firstly by following up on the details of the contract and looking at the background of this, as well as the possibility of collusion by those who signed this contract, or whether this [ineffectiveness] is the result of technical weaknesses in these devices. Either of these [options] deserves accountability." He said that Defence Minister Abd al-Qadr Muhammed Jassim al-Obaidi had informed
24613-461: The type used in stores to prevent shoplifting . According to the laboratory's Dr. Markus Kuhn , it was "impossible" for the card to detect anything and it had "absolutely nothing to do with the detection of TNT". The card could not be programmed, had no memory, no microprocessor and no form of information could be stored on it. Despite the high cost of the devices, the cards were worth only about two to three pence (3–5¢) each. Kuhn commented: "These are
24776-490: The wands' utter ineffectiveness". The report and investigation were later suppressed, and it has been alleged that corruption was the reason, as 75% of the value of the contract "went to kickbacks received by [Iraqi] officials". The BBC's revelations in January 2010 caused outrage in Iraq. A police officer told The New York Times : "Our government is to be blamed for all the thousands of innocent spirits who were lost since these devices have been used in Iraq." MP Ammar Tuma of
24939-420: The year to 31 July 2008, with a gross profit of £1.35 million. Its sole shareholder was its owner, McCormick. A sister company at the same location, ATSC Exports Ltd (registered company 06797101), was established on 21 January 2009, also as a private limited company. It had not filed any accounts as of January 2010. There were also several resellers of ATSC's fake bomb detectors, including Cumberland Industries UK,
25102-538: Was "not ready to use it." Following media criticism, army chief General Anupong Paochinda accused the press of working for Avia Satcom's competitors. He organised a demonstration to "prove" to the media that the devices worked. Fourth Army chief Lt. General Pichet Wisaijorn told the press, "It is not Gen Anupong saying the device is effective. Officers in the South and the North and the current and former 4th Army commanders also say
25265-472: Was arrested on corruption charges, centering on the ADE 651 device purchase. He was subsequently convicted of taking millions of dollars of bribes from McCormick and was imprisoned along with two other Iraqi officials. Up to 15 Iraqis are said to have been on McCormick's payroll, receiving money through a bank in Beirut . Aqil al-Turehi said that he "feel[s] furious when I think that this gang of Jim McCormick and
25428-614: Was displayed at an arms and security fair in Beirut in April 2009, a visiting explosives expert described it as "one big fraud". Gadi Aviran, the head of the Israeli security firm Terrorgence, said: "If someone comes to an expert, claiming that he had developed a device that can detect the smell of explosives from several meters away, the expert must know that this is physically not possible." The FBI has repeatedly issued alerts about dowsing rod devices being used as explosive detectors. It has described
25591-514: Was established on 23 June 1999 but is now dissolved. Promotional material issued about the GT200 claims that it can detect a wide variety of items including ammunition, explosives, drugs, gold, ivory, currency, tobacco and "human bodies" at ranges of up to 700 metres (2,300 ft) on the surface, depths of up to 60 m (200 ft) underground or under 800 m (2,600 ft) of water, or even from aircraft at an altitude of up to 13,000 feet (4,000 m). A "Substance Sensor Card" inserted into
25754-413: Was later arrested on the suspicion of fraud. He was later convicted on three counts of fraud, receiving a ten-year prison sentence in April 2013. The ADE 651 consists of a swivelling antenna mounted via hinge to a plastic handgrip. It requires no battery or other power source; its manufacturer claimed that it is powered solely by the user's static electricity . To use the device, the operator must walk for
25917-465: Was reported to have ordered a new investigation of how the devices had been procured, looking into whether there was any corruption involved. According to the Iraqi Interior Ministry's inspector-general Aqil al-Turehi, he had investigated the device in 2008 but found it "inoperative" and costly and recommended that Iraq should not buy it. He told Reuters: "There was corruption associated with this contract and we referred to this and submitted our report to
26080-454: Was strolling with friends near the CS Hotel. A search of her bag found cosmetics and other items that were completely lawful. The Bangkok Post reported on a Thai army field training session using the GT200 near Yala city in November 2009, in which a bomb squad using GT200 devices repeatedly failed to detect explosives: Various types of explosives had been placed at different spots, unknown to
26243-490: Was subsequently sentenced to 7 years Imprisonment on 20 August 2013. Bolton was also ordered to pay over £1.25 million to prevent seven additional years of imprisonment. Bolton reportedly made £45 million selling the fraudulent devices. The GT200 was used extensively in Thailand . Reportedly, over 800 GT200 units were procured by Thai public bodies since 2004; these include the Royal Thai Army 's purchase of 535 units for combating
26406-673: Was tried in March–April 2013 at the Central Criminal Court in London. The court was told that "the devices did not work and he knew they did not work. He had them manufactured so that they could be sold – and despite the fact they did not work, people bought them for a handsome but unwarranted profit." McCormick had falsely represented himself as a member of the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators, using
26569-416: Was used only as an auxiliary tool to detect something suspicious, with two other devices being used to identify the suspicious object. A recent investigation had found that failures were the result of users relying solely on the GT200 and not using the other two devices, following which bomb disposal personnel had undergone additional training. According to a commander in the army, which makes extensive use of
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