AS a Malaysian writer who has travelled widely in the last nine years, here are some tips to help women travellers stay out of trouble or end up becoming unwitting mules for traffickers in contraband.

At the airport, do not be persuaded by strangers’ pleas to look after their luggage, even for a minute. Say no. Say you have to go. Withdraw from conversations that turn emotional, even with mothers holding babies. It could be a set-up.

Women approach women. It can happen over a split second in transit. In Dubai one morning, a religiously-clothed woman sobbed and begged me to carry a bag. I was already in a transit queue. She approached me because I was alone. She was persistent. It was hard to say no but I did. I was later warned that she had criminal intentions.

Do not carry anything that resembles loose powder in little packets. Even talc and washing powder look suspicious.

Avoid leaving luggage with strangers to go to the restroom. Always make sure your hand luggage faces you at all times. Check in the bigger bags as soon as you get to the airport.

When checking in bigger bags, make sure your hand luggage and handbag stay in your field of vision. Leave nothing on the trolley behind you, even for a second.

When you retrieve your luggage from airports and railway stations, inspect the compartments diligently to make sure nothing is amiss and that no item has been stolen or new ones added without your knowledge.

If you leave bags unattended at airports like Heathrow, Sydney or Tullamarine in Melbourne, you could be arrested.

Also, be wary when you go through the screening belt just before the boarding gate. Sometimes, a stranger may have a fleeting moment of access to your hand luggage. Once, someone tried to steal my laptop. As soon as the body check is over, keep alert.

Airports like London and Melbourne provide bubble wraps for your check-in luggage. Pay the fee for this facility, since it guarantees your luggage is safe.

Do not carry wrapped gifts for friends unless you know the contents. Wrapping paper is stripped away in “heavy-duty” security airports like Colombo.

Do not carry anything for someone who has befriended you and offered you a travelling opportunity. Or someone who may have “fallen in love” with you who invites you on a trip but suggests that you go ahead with a couple of his things.

International security operations are so sophisticated you could be caught in no time for a crime. And most likely, you will stand alone.

Source: NST – May 27, 2008