Value for money

Everybody should be aware that particularly when travelling that it is possible through no fault your own to come into contact with drugs. Your suitcase, baggage, clothes, even the money in your wallet may have been touched by someone who themselves have come into contact with drugs. Those of you that are innocent may be slightly delayed but have nothing to be concerned about, however, to the drug smugglers the dogs are waiting!!

Bearing in mind that governments worldwide don’t actually have any money because what they have got is OUR money and I’m sure that like me you want to know that it is spent wisely. We all know that there are endless instances where they fail miserably, however, the is without doubt one area where we, the taxpayer, gets real value for money

One of the scourges of modern society is the transportation, supply and distribution of illegal narcotics. This stuff destroys lives, funds criminality and impacts us all. We the ordinary folk end up paying the cost as resources are diverted from frontline services namely police, medical personnel, insurance costs to name just a few. Fortunately some of our best friends are at the forefront of exposing this hideous trade.

Milo

Drug detection dog

San Diego is on the Mexican border and is where 5,000 lbs (2200 kg) of methamphetamine was discovered by a chocolate coloured labrador. The street value of this haul was £14.7 million Four men are facing prosecution with the prospect of a life sentence plus a fine of £8.4 million. This is the biggest drug bust in the history of San Diego.

Hector

Drug detection dog

A Malta based vessel departed from Montreal in Canada and arrived at the Irish port of Foynes. The cargo included 300 kilo’s of cocaine, the street value being around €21 million. Sadly for the criminal element that sent it they hadn’t reckoned with the spaniel.

Names withheld for security reasons

Detection dogs

The crates were exported from Ecuador to the port of Rotterdam Netherlands. The manifest listed the items as bananas, however it failed to disclose that amongst the bananas was 17,600 lbs of cocaine with a street value of $660million. Not sure how it affected the taste of the bananas!

Paris

Drug detection dog

At Sidney airport Australia the customs officers were suspicious of a traveller but even xrays couldn’t guarantee that drugs were concealed in the suitcase. In fact In order to confirm their suspicions they would have to totally dismantle the entire case and make it unusable. It was believed to be one the most ingenious ways to hide narcotics that could found in an ordinary suitcase. Enter the dog, one yellow Labrador, the traveller was warned, if the dog sits your in trouble. The dog sat; much to the dismay of the traveller . Having completely demolished the suitcase it was discovered to contain 1.7kilos of cocaine with a value of $550,000. The traveller awaits sentence.

Axel

Drug detection dog

In 2020 a standard traffic stop in the town of Fontana California by a police officer would have revealed nothing to cause concern until the officers dog showed interest in the underside of the vehicle. This one stop revealed a haul of 336lbs of methamphetamine and 24 kilos of cocaine, this being one of the biggest illegal drug finds in Fontana.

Names withheld for security reasons

Detection dogs

Fentanyl is essentially an analgesic drug used in the medical community primarily as a pain reliever. It is up to 100times more powerful than morphine so even a few grains can kill a human, in fact it is so dangerous that the likelihood of an overdose without medical supervision can be expected. It was sent from Mexico to the Nogales port of entry in Arizona. The cargo included 254lbs of fentanyl worth $3.5 million and 395 lbs Methamphetamine worth $1.1m It remains the biggest seizure of Fentanyl in US history.

Honey

Drug detection dog

Gatwick airport is a very busy place as it cares for over 32 million passengers passing though every year. In 2016/2017 the border force discovered 4,500 kilos of class A drugs with a street value of £450million. Amongst the canines who were responsible for disrupting this foul business is one very special yellow labrador.

Issues surrounding the use of Drugs Detection Dogs

These are just a few examples of the value for money we get from the canines that continue to help keep this evil trade at bay and an example of the damage done is as follows.

In the USA between 1968 and 2020 the number of people who died from drug overdoses was 1,106,900 and currently the death toll in this country alone runs at 100,000 per year

It should be noted that there are many that complain that dogs are unreliable as their indication of the presence of narcotics is regularly unsuccessful and quote percentages of failure.

What they don’t take into consideration is the three main reasons for what is perceived as failure.

Reason One

When a specific dog indicates the presence of narcotics and none are found and this occurs regularly with the same dog then this can be the result of poor training or poor handling. This is very rare but it can happen.

Reason Two

Secondly and by far the most common is the absence of drugs is not evidence that the dog has failed only that the dog has shown that the object or the person has been in contact with drugs recently, even accidentally.

In a well documented case many years ago an Asian gentleman was stopped at an airport several times but found to have no drugs on his person. The dog was temporarily removed and the issue of racism was raised. I remember ringing up the newspaper that ran the story and raising the idea that the traveller being in contact with drugs even innocently. The paper informed me that they had no intention of following up the story.

Reason Three

Thirdly and very important is the use of drug detection dogs at events that are totally unsuitable.

Example. One has to challenge the use of drug detection dogs at a pop festival. The first problem is that attendees know that the dogs will be there and some will indulge before entering, that will alert the dog but nothing will be found as it has already been used!! The people attending are usually young, there will be considerable small amounts of illegal drugs available, the attendees know this, the drugs are well hidden but the dogs will identify those who have been in contact including innocent people. Then to make matters worse, because the amounts discovered are so small and for personal use them the offender is let off with a caution. The best use of drug detection dogs are at airports and ports where the stuff arrives in the country and at raids on suspected drug manufacturing houses.

Returning to the issue of racism. Is it possible to train a dog to profile certain types, ie People of Colour or Asian? The answer is yes, it is possible but this will become quite obvious that either the dog has been trained with a racial bias or the handler is deliberately directing the dog towards certain individuals.

No Easy Answers

Of course there is another option. We allow anyone to take any narcotic that they choose, that way we wouldn’t need laws, no drug detection dogs and travelling through airports etc would be hassle free. Great Idea?

Well It would be until we got the bill for the untold numbers who overdose, need medical attention or need life-long care for the rest of their lives because of the damage to their bodies.