Sniffer dogs Milo and Blue recently helped officers find a huge haul of illegal cigarettes and cannabis. Milo sniffed out various brands of illegal cigarettes concealed within tins of powered paint in Derbyshire, England, reported BBC News.
Sniffer Dogs on the Case
In a separate mission, as part of routine operations at Dublin Airport, Blue helped revenue officers seize approximately 11.34 kgs of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of almost €227,000 ($223,470 USD). According to Dublin Live, the cannabis was discovered in an air cargo consignment labeled “hops” that had arrived from Canada and was destined for a Dublin address.
The Trading Standards officers in Derby said that 400,000 cigarettes and more than 100 kilograms of hand-rolling tobacco — either illicit or counterfeit — had been pulled from shelves since February. The seizures form part of a nationwide operation called Op CeCe.
Specialized Sniffer Dogs
Dogs like Milo and Blue have been specially trained dogs to sniff out these illegal products, some of which have been found hidden behind fake walls or in secret compartments. The BBC reported in 2021 that a tobacco detection dog helped sniff out thousands of contraband cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco found hidden in a hole in a wall outside a shop in Stoke-on-Trent, England, which contained 15,000 illegal cigarettes and 2kg (4lb) of illicit hand rolling tobacco.
Investigations are ongoing in both cases.
K9 Patrol, a company in the U.K., says that “a tobacco detection dog is trained to sense tobacco using stockpiles from seizures around the country. Once trained, the dogs can detect illegal tobacco with outstanding accuracy and from a distance of up to almost 15 meters.”
