CUSTOMS INTRODUCES 'WHITE POWDER ONLY' DECTECTOR DOGS
New Zealand's fight against drugs at the border has been enhanced, with the graduation of Customs' first 'white powder only' drug detector dogs from the Police Dog Training School in Trentham today says Customs Minister Rick Barker.
"New Zealand Customs is at the forefront of the training and deployment of drug detector dogs in New Zealand. But in order to increase our interception rate of 'white powder' drugs the training of all Customs drug dogs from 2004 onwards will focus on the detection of white powders only, including Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy and Methamphetamine.
"The decision to train and deploy white powder only detector dogs was made based on the experience and results of both the Australian Customs Service and HM Customs & Excise, who have both successfully deployed white powder only dogs throughout their organisations," says Mr Barker.
Auckland-based 'Dallas' with handler Melissa Reber, and 'Tess' with handler Paul Northover graduated today as the New Zealand Customs Service's first 'white powder only' drug detector dog teams.
Also graduating today was Christchurch-based drug detector dog 'Dougal' with handler Jim Dickson, however as Dougal's training commenced prior to 2004, he has been trained to detect both the white powder drugs and cannabis.
Previously all Customs' drug detector dogs in New Zealand were trained to detect both white powders and cannabis.
However overseas experience shows that focussing on one group of drugs, such as the white powder drugs only, increases the effectiveness of the dogs in detecting those substances.
Customs' priority is the large quantities of Class A drugs, such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and precursors. The newly graduated dogs will be able to focus solely on intercepting these
drugs and precursors without the distraction of cannabis.
The Minister congratulated the three teams on their graduation.
“One of the responsibilities of the Customs Service is to work with other agencies to prevent the establishment of a hard drugs market in New Zealand. The work our dogs do in this area is an important link in the chain of protection of the New Zealand community.
“The dogs are one of a number of tools available to Customs, alongside technology such as x-ray machines and ion scanners, to assist in identifying people, luggage or cargo shipments that warrant closer investigation by officers” says Mr Barker.
Customs has 12 drug detecting and three explosives detecting dogs and handlers who operate at all points of entry for people, goods and mail around New Zealand.
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Hon. Rick Barker