ADE 651

The ADE 651 is a fraudulent bomb detector produced by the British company Advanced Tactical Security & Communications Ltd (ATSC). It was claimed to detect many substances, such as drugs or explosives, from long distances. The device was sold to various countries, particularly in Iraq, where the government was claimed to have spent £52 million for security operations. The product was invented by Jim McCormick, ATSC's managing director. The device features a swiveling antenna attached to a plastic grip and was claimed to be charged by a user's static electricity. Users would insert "programmed substance detection cards" to supposedly detect specific substances, which were claimed to absorb the vapors of those substances. However, investigations revealed that the product was incapable of detecting anything, essentially being a dowsing rod. The ADE 651 was used primarily by Iraqi security forces for security checkpoints. Due to the false sense of security, many critics pointed to numerous incidents where bombings occurred despite the presence of the ADE 651 at security checkpoints, underscoring its ineffectiveness. In 2010, the British government banned the exportation of the device to Iraq and Afghanistan after military officials' claims of its ineffectiveness. McCormick was later arrested on the suspicion of fraud. He was later convicted on three counts of fraud, receiving a ten-year prison sentence in April 2013.