Drug dogs sniff out goods at car auction

For Immediate Release 21 September 2011

Drug dogs sniff out goods at car auction

The Corrections dog squad is used to sniffing out cars and making discoveries but what turned up recently at a Hamilton auction yard was a complete surprise.

Corrections dog handlers have used the auction yard to train their dogs for the last three years, setting up vehicles with training aids that smell like illegal drugs for the dogs to locate and indicate on.

Service Support Manager Scott Carse says the vehicles, seized by the courts or recovered in accidents, are ideal because they're full of things encountered at prison checkpoints like food wrappers and empty bottles, that act as natural distracters for the dogs.

"However, during the exercise all the dogs indicated on a vehicle that hadn't been set up for the training exercise.

"This led to a search by the Handlers and what was discovered was a substantial amount of drug paraphernalia, residual methamphetamine and ammunition.

"The staff at the auction yard were as surprised as we were and contacted Police.

"The auction yard has welcomed us in to train our dogs for the last three years and it has certainly helped us to develop our dogs into highly trained vehicle searchers working to keep illegal drugs out of our prisons.

"We are very glad we could help the yard by sniffing out these unwanted extras in one of their cars."

Corrections drug detection dogs are also trained using houses being relocated at a yard in Hamilton.

ENDS

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