Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Many — even if not most — selections for the bag search are based on neither computerized/automated flagging nor the passenger declaration. People often use “random” to refer to outcomes that aren’t mathematically random but are built upon unknown factor(s), factors that may not even be rational and consciously known to the (manual) outcome-selecting party.
Yes, that's what I was getting at, it's more likely that the OP's answers to the primary questions triggered the bag search (especially if he said anything about carrying something bought by a friend, which is unusual) or that the OP otherwise "fit the profile" of someone who might be carrying contraband.