One Russian customs officer, alas, who died at the beginning of the 2000s, possessed a special form of intuition. His name was Alexey Fedorovich Skokova.
He was already at a respectable age, but he was kept in the service with all his might, not as a "golden fund", but as a bearer of an amazing gift, about which they said: "Skokovoy sees everything through and through!"
The old man did seem to have seen right through the suitcases, bundles, clothes, crossing our western border. Together with the brigade I went out into the inspection hall, but did not approach the table, but looked at the citizens surrounding the "contour".
All of them were agitated, alarmed, in general, they were dressed in the same way - mostly officers and members of their families, conscripts, less often - civilians, law-abiding people.
Customs regulations were then strict - to export no more than one liter of alcohol, no more than 30 packs of cigarettes and 300 grams of coffee per person.
And someone tried to take out more. Skokova literally distinguished them with his eyes. He came up, asked to open a suitcase, untie a knot or open a coat. There was no case that he snatched someone wrong from the crowd, unmistakably took on only the violators.
But when emigrants went abroad, when violations and smuggling became almost the norm, Skokovoy literally showed miracles of his gift. Here is just one case.
The device showed that there is a lot of gold in the boxes. The boxes were unloaded, probed - nothing! Skokovoy was resting that day. They brought it. He just entered the hall, looked at the boxes, and immediately grunted:
Promotional video:
- The nails in them are made of gold.
And he left.
Checked out. Exactly! The boxes were nailed together with gold nails. Six kilos of gold were pulled out of them.
They molested him:
- Teach!
And he answered briefly:
“I don’t know anything, I don’t see, but I feel it. He begins to suck under the spoon, and then suddenly I know who and where. That's all science …