Sniffing dogs help break drug crime

Sniffing dogs involved in detection to capture Khat leaves import.

More than 1.6 kg of cocaine at the bottom of the backpack

At the end of the year, visitors entering Tan Son Nhat International Airport are increasing day by day. Now the work of anti-smuggling and trade frauds by the HCM City Customs Department through air routes has been strengthened to the maximum.

One evening as usual, flight EK392 from Dubai landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport at nearly 20:00. As this is a key route, the Drug Control Team coordinated with Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch to implement the key inspection and control plan. Customs scouts and sniffing dogs were ready to pick up "special packages" in the baggage reclaim area of the flight. Carrying out inspection of luggage on the conveyor belt under the guidance of Customs officers, a sniffing dog smelled each suitcase and luggage. Suddenly, in the middle of the island, the dog stopped for a long time on a rectangular brown backpack, (with the baggage number EK 071858). The dog sniffed and ran around, then it barked at the backpack to inform of a strange smell coming from the suitcase.

From the dog’s signals, the team decided to check the suspicious suitcase. "Despite checking through the luggage scanner several times, we still did not see any unusual images from this piece of luggage. Or was there a mistake here...” - a civil servant of the team said. Witnessed by the owner, the team put the backpack into the manual inspection room. Each individual item, from clothing to shawls... were carefully examined, but we did not find any unusual goods. Due to their professional experience, the civil servants involved in the case said: "It cannot be a mistake"! The backpack was lifted up and down to examine the corners and lines. Then the team decided to slit the bottom of this backpack and detected 1.61 kg of cocaine wrapped in silver foil between the fabric layers at the bottom of the backpack.

The owner was a female passenger named Soracipa Monroy Claudia Stephanny, of Colombian nationality, born in 1995, passport number AT388813. The subjects said, she was hired by an American (unknown name) for transporting this cocaine for delivery to a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. When arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, she was discovered and arrested by the Customs agency.

Sniffing dog works at the station in Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Photo: T.H

Breaking many major drug offenses

According to Mr. Huynh Nam, the leader of the Anti-Drug Control Team - HCMC Customs Department, in recent years, the unit has built many specialized projects and plans to fight against drugs with sniffing dogs. The unit coordinated with Customs departments at the borders to monitor and destroy many cases of drug transport. In particular, drugs sent through express delivery are concealed in non-commercial gifts. The implementation of the fighting plan has been established, the Drug Control Team has cooperated with Express Cargo Customs Branch to increase the use of sniffing dogs for inspection and detection of hundreds of packages from organizations and individuals importing from African countries to Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Post Office. They have seized more than 1.6 tons of Khat leaves which contains cathinone in the list of banned import items by the Government.

At present, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has 9 working dogs assigned to the Drug Control and Prevention Team for management and training for drug prevention and control. According to Mr. Huynh Nam, before the sniffing dogs were put on "work" at the team, they were trained for 6 months to 1 year at the Training Center of the Ministry of Public Security and Border Guard. When returning to the Team, the training and care of sniffing dogs continues to be carried out according to the specific lesson plan. Each sniffing dog is assigned a caretaker. Every day, the trainers are responsible for training the dogs according to the plan and program. In addition to the practical training lessons at the key goods lines sent via express delivery, the sniffing dogs are also trained with specialized lessons at the key routes in Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

In fact, in addition to the use of sniffing dogs in drug investigation established by the unit, sniffing dogs serve for the inspection and control of Customs Departments at the borders when they are available. The use of sniffing dogs has had a deterrent effect, preventing and actively contributing to the maintenance of security in the area of the Customs control and prevention of drug crime.

Despite being involved with anti-smuggling forces that have broken some of the drug trafficking cases with sophisticated tactics, the result of using sniffing dogs use has not met the expectations.

According to the analysis of the Drug Control Team, the layout of the sniffing dog in a management unit (Drug Control Team) for general use at border gates is not yet suitable and not timely, because the characteristics of working at the borders affects the dogs efficiency. In order to promote the effectiveness of sniffing dogs, in early 2018, the Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City assigned sniffing dogs to some key Customs Branches for management and training for daily work at border gates. These sniffing dogs will be trained by the Branches to suit the characteristics of each unit...