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Moscow airport customs detains traveler arriving from Dubai with radioactive deck of cards

A radioactive potassium-40 isotope was found on the surface of the cards

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Customs officers at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport have detained a passenger arriving from Dubai who was carrying a deck of marked cards that exceeded the permissible radiation rate by 440 times, the Russian Federal Customs Service reported on Wednesday.

"The deck of cards, which exceeded the radiation rate by 440 times, was seized by Domodedovo customs officers from a passenger arriving from Dubai. The offender turned out to be a citizen of Vietnam. She had attempted to bring the dangerous item [into Russia] via the green corridor [for non-dutiable goods], but it activated the Yantar radiation control system. The customs officers found two decks of marked cards in a pocket of the woman’s coat," the statement reads.

A radioactive potassium-40 isotope was found on the surface of the cards. It carries a radiation rate that is significantly higher than normal and is hazardous for human health.

Card sharps often use such stacked decks of playing cards and hide radiation dosimeters on their body. When a marked card is located nearby, the dosimeter will activate and start giving off a signal, thus enabling the fraudster to understand which cards the other player is holding.

After seizing the stacked deck of cards, the airport customs personnel placed it in a radiation protection safe in a specially isolated room. The hazardous item will be disposed of, the customs service said.

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