New detector dogs head to the Pacific to fight transnational crime
12.00pm 06 November 2025
New Zealand Police and Customs have congratulated five new handlers and their detector dogs on their graduation from the Police Dog Training Centre (DTC) in Trentham today (6 November 2025).
The teams have completed their training to be qualified as operational Detector Dog Teams and three of the handlers are first time operators.
Two officers from Fiji Police and one from Samoa Police, one officer from Fiji Revenue and Customs Service and one from Tonga Revenue and Customs have proudly marched out at Trentham today.
National Coordinator Police Dogs and Pacific Detector Dog Programme (PDDP) Manager, Inspector Todd Southall, congratulated all the teams.
“These handlers and their dogs have trained here in Upper Hutt for eight weeks and now the rest of the training is completed back in their own jurisdictions under the watchful eyes of advisors from the PDDP,” he says.
New Zealand Police and Customs have a close partnership with our Pacific enforcement partners. The PDDP is part of a commitment to increase safety across the region.
New Zealand Customs’ Deputy Chief Executive - International and Governance Joe Cannon said when fully trained, these detector dog and handler teams will be deployed to perform both border security and community policing.
“Today marks a significant milestone in our shared mission to protect Pacific borders and communities.
The graduation of five new detector dog teams boosts our region’s capability to detect drugs, cash and firearms, and strengthens our collective response to transnational, serious and organised crime,” Mr Cannon said.
“The DTC has been working with Pacific countries for much longer than the PDDP has been running, Inspector Southall says.
“About 20 years ago we started to work with some of the Pacific countries – initially the Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga, then later Fiji and now French Polynesia and New Caledonia has been added this year”, says Inspector Southall.
The PDDP officially started in 2018 and is jointly managed by New Zealand Police and Customs. It is funded through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
