[Decision on Overtime Compensation for Customs Inspection]

The Commissioner of Customs requested a decision regarding whether Customs inspectors were entitled to overtime compensation for monitoring persons who were suspected of concealing drugs inside their bodies. GAO held that payment of overtime compensation to Customs inspectors for inspectional duties was not warranted, since the: (1) suspected drug carriers had already been subject to a strip search and an x-ray search that revealed reasonable suspicion that the individual was concealing drugs; and (2) time spent monitoring a suspect after a reasonable suspicion has been established was not part of the inspectional process for which overtime compensation was payable, but did constitute enforcement duties. Accordingly, overtime that Customs inspectors perform in monitoring suspects was compensable as enforcement duty.