US border, airport searches of electronic devices almost double

Washington

CUSTOMS officers at the border and at airports almost doubled their searches of electronic devices of people entering the United States in the last six months, according to data released on Tuesday by Customs and Border Protection.

Despite the surge in searches - nearly 15,000 from October to March, compared with 8,383 in the same period in 2015-16 - agency officials said the latest numbers represent less than one per cent of the 189.6 million travellers who arrived in the US in that period.